From a Parking Lot to Thousands of Families.

Food… It runs in my blood. The growing, preserving, distributing, and enjoyment of it has always been part of my life, as far back as I can remember. My maternal grandfather spent his whole life farming on the land he was born on, as well as on the farms he bought for dairy farming in the surrounding areas. Both of my grandmothers, my mother, and all of my siblings are excellent cooks, and we love good, hearty food when we get together. 

Coming from a Pennsylvania German heritage, and my father being a country preacher, frugality was one of the most important things. I remember often going to discount grocery stores with my parents, looking for those good deals. And we did a lot of gardening, canning, and raising portions of our own eggs, dairy, and meat, too. 

As I became an adult and thought through what I would like to do with my life, one thing I was passionate about was making healthy food affordable to families like ours. This especially became important to me when I got married to my wife, Monique, and we started having children of our own. I farmed for 5 years full time in Lancaster County, PA, raising vegetables and a few cattle, chickens, and hogs. But quickly my wife and I realized there was a problem in the food chain, in which it was very challenging for small, natural producers to distribute their food conveniently to families who wanted it, for a fair price for both sides.

So, after years of farming and working for a food distributor, in early 2014 we moved to Tennessee and decided to launch our own distribution company. Our goal then was, and still is today, to efficiently make natural food available and affordable to families. Our new company started out with just a few family friends getting together to order in a couple pallets of closeout groceries from the distributor I had been working for. 

From our small start, the Lord has blessed us to have a company that includes our drop off locations in numerous states, thousands of customers, products from many vendors and farms, and a good crew of people to make this happen.  

Early on, it was a rather informal process using Excel sheets to collect orders from friends and friends of friends, starting in Pikeville and Centerville, TN. Delivery was done by a 3rd party trucking company, and when the food was finally delivered on a somewhat unpredictable schedule, we rushed around trying to sort it rapidly. As the years went by, and more customers started ordering from us and asking us to come to their community, we were able to start delivering with our own refrigerated box truck, build a customer website, rent our own warehouse, and purchase a semi-truck. 

Closeout groceries were our focus when we started, and they are still our main stay because customers appreciate the quality, diversity and savings so much. But within a couple of years, we also started to sell my sisters’ goatmilk soap, apples from a former farming neighbor, maple syrup from my home state, and bulk food from a company my mom bought from when I was little. Now, we sell a wide range of groceries, produce, dairy, meat, bulk foods, homestead supplies, and are regularly adding in new options. 

The road to get where we are today has not been easy, and it has had many challenges that made me often wonder if we would get through them. But there have been so many good people along the way, and valuable lessons learned, that we are who we are today because of the lessons learned. 

The stock up and buying spree that happened in 2020, as so much changed for Americans during government lockdowns and extra rules, had a pivotal effect on us. In 2019, we hit an all time low and were almost ready to go out of business. But when people reduced their grocery store shopping and started buying more from us, while our whole system was stretched and tested almost beyond its limits, we were set on a path to long term sustainability. 

Now our goal is to always improve our systems and offerings, so that we can become as close to a one-stop shop of affordable, wholesome food as possible. And we invite you to come along with us to save money on your food, be healthier, and be part of our growing community of members!