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When Stacie and her husband brought home six laying hens in 2018, they just wanted better eggs. “My background is in health and nutrition, and we were really into CrossFit,” she says. “We were eating a lot of eggs and knew there had to be something better than what we found in the store.”
Those six hens quickly changed everything. “You’d be surprised how many eggs six chickens lay,” Stacie laughs. “We started giving them to our neighbors, and that’s really how it started.”
What began as a way to feed their family evolved into Edwards Family Farms, a regenerative farm in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The couple found a 30-acre property that had been a horse farm for decades. “The infrastructure was over a hundred years old,” says Stacie. “But it gave us a starting point, and we’ve been working ever since to restore the land, rebuild the soil, and grow better grass for our animals.”
Over the years, the farm has transformed into a thriving operation producing pasture-raised chicken, pork, and beef. Stacie first started with beef cattle but quickly realized that a small-scale cow-calf operation wouldn’t be sustainable. “We realized it wasn’t profitable,” she says. “So I decided to try dairy. We sold the beef herd, bought a few milkers, and started over.”
Now, Edwards Family Farms has two milking cows, four heifers, four new calves, and a bull to keep the herd self-sufficient. “We like to have everything we need right here,” says Stacie. “That way, we can control our quality from start to finish.”
The Edwards family focuses mainly on direct-to-consumer meat sales, which allows them to build lasting relationships with local customers. “We might sell to a few restaurants or food hubs, but it’s the families who buy from us every week that really benefit from what we do,” she explains.
As demand grew, Stacie began experimenting with different ways to keep her customers engaged while managing her inventory more efficiently. “We started out with the Chicken Club subscription because our chicken breasts sell out so fast,” she says. “It guaranteed customers would get them every month, but it was too much to manage on the back end. I was holding product back, running out of freezer space, and juggling too many spreadsheets.”
That experience led to the creation of the Herd Farm Membership, a flexible subscription model that gives customers access to a private online store with discounted pricing and early access to best-selling items.
“It’s a way to take care of the people who take care of us,” Stacie explains. “If I’m running low on something like chicken breasts or steaks, my members get first access. They also get fun perks like a free T-shirt when they join, a hat after three months, and even a cast-iron skillet if they stay long-term. It’s my way of saying thank you.”
The new program took off immediately. “We launched it in September, and it’s been incredible,” Stacie says. “It’s evergreen, so I can promote it year-round. There’s no cap, no separate inventory, and it fits right into how we already operate.”
Before switching to Local Line, Stacie used GrazeCart for a few years to sell her products online. “GrazeCart worked for a while, but it just didn’t fit how we needed to operate anymore,” she says.
For one, the subscription tools weren’t flexible enough. “I didn’t want to run a traditional CSA or box program,” Stacie explains. “With GrazeCart, the subscription options were too rigid. I couldn’t build something that fit our customers and our farm model. I would’ve had to buy another third-party subscription system just to make it work, which would have been a logistical nightmare.”
Inventory management was another sticking point. “We have about 20 sausage flavors in different forms,” she says. “On GrazeCart, I had to list every flavor as a separate product, and I already had over 200 products. It was overwhelming.”
When she discovered Local Line, Stacie found what she’d been missing.
“The product variants feature sold me immediately,” she says. “Now, I can keep all those sausage flavors under one product and stay organized. It saves me time and keeps my store clean.”
“With GrazeCart, it started to feel like I was managing the system more than my business,” she says. “Local Line felt intuitive and farmer-focused. Everything just made sense.”
Another major selling point was support. “With other platforms, you submit a request and wait weeks for an answer,” Stacie says. “With Local Line, I can reach out and get a quick, personal response. That means a lot when you’re running everything by yourself.”
For Stacie, it was a clear choice. “I sat on switching for a long time, but once I saw what Local Line could do, it just clicked. I knew it would make my life simpler.”
Stacie is in Local Line nearly every day, fine-tuning her storefront to make it easier and more engaging for customers. “I’m always in there moving products around, creating categories, and trying new things,” she says. “The layout and organization really matter.”
Instead of listing hundreds of products by type, she curates creative, theme-based categories that make shopping faster and more fun. “I have a ‘Customer Favorites’ section that’s usually sold out, just for social proof,” she explains. “Then there’s ‘DIY Chicken Broth,’ ‘Collagen Boosting Faves,’ ‘For the Risk Takers,’ and even one just for pet products. I make it easy for people to find what they want with the least number of clicks possible.”
She also uses price anchoring to encourage higher-value orders.
“I’ll create a big, premium box at the top of a page to make everything else look like a better deal,” she says. “Sometimes people even buy that top box, which is always a fun surprise.”
Her storefront strategy is designed not just to simplify shopping but to boost confidence and trust. “The more intuitive it is, the more likely people are to buy,” she says.
Stacie also simplified her logistics to match the new online system. “When we first started, we had all kinds of pickup spots and delivery options. It was chaos,” she recalls. “Now we’ve narrowed it down to just a few: on-farm pickup, one farmers’ market, and a weekly meet-up in an Ingles parking lot near our biggest customer base. It’s simple, and it works.”
To help customers adjust to Local Line, she offered a small group of loyal shoppers $25 in store credit to test the new system. “They went through the store, placed orders, and told me what was confusing,” she says. “That feedback helped me fix small issues before we opened it up to everyone.”
She even made short tutorial videos to walk customers through the process. “When you switch platforms, people worry it’s something new or not legitimate,” she says. “I made videos showing it was still us. It helped build trust.”
Behind the scenes, Stacie’s marketing system is what keeps her customers engaged.
“My number-one goal is to get people on my email list,” she says. “Once they’re in, I have a nurture sequence that builds trust, teaches them how to order online, and introduces them to our products.”
She’s constantly testing different strategies, from urgency-based campaigns when inventory is low to value-based education when the farm is well-stocked. “Right now, I’m running an urgency sequence because we’re running low on chicken,” she says. “But when we’re fully stocked, I switch to educational content like recipes, cooking tips, and farm updates.”
Her data-driven mindset helps guide her decisions. “If you’re not tracking your data, you’re just shooting in the dark,” she says. “You need to know what sells, when it sells, and what your customers care about.”
That strategy has paid off.
“Our sales are up 56 percent this year,” Stacie says. “It’s the combination of better marketing, better systems, and a smoother buying experience.”
When asked what advice she’d give to other farmers, Stacie doesn’t hesitate. “If it’s not simple for you, it won’t be simple for your customers,” she says.
Her biggest piece of advice: know your numbers and track everything.
“Data is the most important tool in your business,” she says. “If you don’t know what’s selling or which products are performing best, you can’t make informed decisions.”
She also encourages farmers to test and adapt. “Try different things and don’t be afraid to change what isn’t working,” she says. “I test every email sequence, every storefront layout, every product category. If it helps customers find what they need faster, I keep it. If not, I tweak it.”
And perhaps most importantly, Stacie reminds farmers that marketing is part of the job. “If you want to own a farm business, you have to stop thinking like a farmer and start thinking like a marketer,” she says. “You can grow the best food in the world, but if no one knows how to buy it, it won’t matter.”
For her, Local Line makes that connection possible.
“Local Line helps me organize my products, make shopping easy, and stay connected to my customers,” she says. “It’s a tool that supports everything else I do.”
👉 Ready to simplify your farm sales and strengthen your customer relationships?
Book a demo with our team and learn how Local Line can help you streamline operations, improve your online store, and grow your business.
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