Sustaining Success
Renee Robinson-Seelye, B.B.A.’10
“Consumers should ask themselves, why is the turkey on sale? Did the farmer receive a poor price for the animal? Did the farmer experience a lower death loss which drove down their cost, allowing for a lower price? Maybe the cost of the feed for the animal went down. What does a turkey eat anyway? How is the food for the turkey made?” she asks. “Now consider finding a reliable source from the industry who can answer those questions for you.”
At a time when the meat market was shifting to a culture that incentivizes quantity over quality, Jake’s Country Meats was determined to stay true to their core values of sustainability, quality and humane treatment of the animals they raise. When other small farms were either closing their doors or drastically changing the way they did business, Jake’s Country Meats went in the opposite direction.
Projections were looking positive for the business when they partnered with an upscale grocery store in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, as the meat industry evolved, it became more and more expensive to produce at the quality that Jake’s Country Meats prides itself on. With costs increasing and prices for their product remaining stagnant, the company once again faced a crossroads. They wanted to retain their identity as a sustainable meat producer, but there was seemingly no simple way to keep their place in the market.
A new direction
Enter Renee Robinson-Seelye. During the business’s difficult transition, Robinson-Seelye was an undergraduate student at Western Michigan University. She always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but was unclear about which path to pursue during her earlier years at WMU. After taking some enlightening marketing classes, she had an epiphany. “During my studies, I occasionally discussed with my parents some things I was learning and realized how applicable this information was to our lives back home,” she says. “I then decided to earn my degree in marketing and devote my career fully to the family business.”
When Robinson-Seelye graduated and began working, both she and her family members decided to take the company’s marketing approach in a different direction. With the growing interest among consumers involving sustainable food practices, Jake’s Country Meats realized they had a great story to tell.
Using word-of-mouth marketing, traditional marketing and digital marketing, the company decided to start telling their story to anyone who would listen. This involved cold calling stores and restaurants, encouraging retail owners to spread the word to their favorite chefs, revamping their website, and creating a much more visible social media presence. After a solid network of industry partners was established, Robinson-Seelye knew the company could focus on a more ambitious avenue.
“From then on, I focused on putting all of our current marketing techniques into a bigger picture—to reach the goal for the business to purchase and market 100% of the animals raised at the best price to sustain the farm. After five years, Jake’s Country Meats met that goal by marketing to various outlets through farmers’ markets, restaurants, stores, distributors and buyers’ groups,” Robinson-Seelye says. “We learned through our past partnerships that it is best to have a diverse marketing model while including a variety of pricing structures and distribution channels. Diversity, pricing, quality and service are key. People are everything.”
Resources to lean on
Robinson-Seelye attributes much of her success to her time at WMU. She says she works through problems every day that she can relate back to the courses she had as a Business Bronco. She even admits to still using the textbook from her senior-level marketing class for establishing pricing structures.
Robinson-Seelye says she was a successful student because she didn’t let her failures define her, and implores other to adopt a similar approach. “If I could offer any student advice, it would be to lean on a support system that encourages you to succeed. If you don’t have one already, create or seek one within the university. The Haworth College of Business has many great resources for students to lean on.”