DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER MARKETING ONE SIZE MAY NOT FIT ALL

by CCA Director of Communications Katie Roberti

Selling beef directly to consumers isn't a new idea. For years, The California Cattleman magazine has featured ranches across the state who have taken on the practice. At the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, the milliondollar question, one asked in a previous issue of this magazine, was: Will consumer demands change the way beef is purchased moving forward, and will the interest in buying directly from producers hold? Since the onset of the pandemic, conversations about selling straight to consumers have only continued.

In the fall of 2022, the Siskiyou County Cattlemen’s Annual Fall Tour Meeting focused on direct-to-consumer marketing by highlighting and visiting three family operations in Scott Valley that sell meat directly to consumers. Crown H Cattle Co., Jenner Family Beef and StarWalker Organic Farms were the three locations visited in the educational event that gave attendees a look at varying business models, operations and more on direct-toconsumer sales, all within the same valley. Although there are trends in the trials each of these operations face, the roadblocks are also uniquely different and that no two businesses selling beef directly to consumers are likely to be the same.

In this final part of our series on Siskiyou County, we are sharing some of the insights we learned from our sitdown interview and walk on the ranch with Crown H Cattle Co.’s Regina Hanna. Check out more photo highlights from all three of the operations on page 46 to learn a little bit more about each of the stops from the Siskiyou County Cattlemen’s Annual Fall Tour.

Since the 1940s, the Hanna family has been ranching in Scott Valley as Hanna Brothers Ranch, producing hay and Angus cattle. Married to Judd Hanna, one of the brothers, Regina Hanna didn’t move to Siskiyou County in 1999 expecting to start her own beef business. It wasn't until years later that Regina began developing an interest in Belted Galloway cattle after first seeing them on an East Coast visit.

In 2018, Regina got Sammi, her first Belted Galloway cow, and started what has now grown into Crown H Cattle Co. Today, it is a business that raises Belted Galloway cattle and sells "Beltie” beef directly to consumers through online sales and occasional pop-up markets.

Learning about the genetics of Belted Galloway cattle, a heritage breed, and growing this kind of beef is something that Regina says has been fun. The cattle are slower to develop but take less time to finish. Additionally, a hanging carcass weight for a Beltie is only about 650 pounds.

Another aspect of Crown H Cattle Co. that

Regina enjoys is that her kids get the opportunity to help with all the work and learn the business from beginning to end. Living on the Hanna Brothers Ranch, Regina says her kids get to be involved with the operation, but time doesn’t always allow for them to be part of and see all segments of it. Now that the work involved with Crown H Cattle Co. takes place around their school schedules and Regina's job at Scott Valley Junior High as a counselor, the kids are a part of it all, and she gets to be as well.

While Regina, Judd, and their two kids do most of the work with the cattle and grow some of their own hay to sell and feed, having the Hanna Brothers Ranch and the rest of the Hanna family around to help has been essential to making her business work.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Hanna Brothers as my foundation,” Regina said. “I’m very grateful because this business is very much ground up.”

Something Regina is honest about when it comes to selling meat on your own is that there are many little things to figure out. Crown H Cattle Co. first started by only selling shares of beef, not requiring them to work with USDA. Once Regina got the opportunity to do more with USDA, she realized it was a whole new ballgame, as many rules and requirements go with selling beef cuts and products. However, now that she is through the process with USDA and on to marketing products compared to selling shares, she says it's easier to sell more beef. While selling beef shares was a good way to figure out the logistics of processing, selling and shipping, she says that model was limiting in ways. Only some people have ample freezer space or a need for the amount of beef that comes in a quarter or half share of beef.

Outside of meeting all the USDA requirements, Regina says even getting a website up and running took more work than she imagined. Along with that, it has also surprised her to find out how much office work it takes to make the business run.

"I have never sat so much for work. As a [high school] principal, I was running all over the place... But to really be diligent and to knock it out, like with your website, with your e-commerce site, figuring out how much the cost of the shipping is…it's hours in a chair, on a computer."

While there is always something new to try and figure out, Regina enjoys the element of getting to problem solve. She also shares that sometimes it is possible to work together with other ranchers in the valley who share similar needs. Splitting supply orders and coordinating dry ice pickups are ways she has collaborated in the past with others who have direct-to-consumer operations.

Fun facts about Crown H Cattle Co.

Fun Fact #1: As explained on their website, the Crown H Cattle Co. name comes from the Hanna Bro Brand and Regina’s name. Regina means “reigning queen” and a bench H is the Hanna family’s ranch brand.

Fun Fact #2: Regina says Mary Heffernan, who also ranches in Scott Valley as Five Marys Farm, has been fun to work with and that she helped her learn the ropes of getting the business started. Regina says whenever people ask, "How did you get this far in a relatively short amount of time?" She answers that she bought Mary's book that shows how to do it step-by-step. For example, in one of the workbooks, Mary shares her favorite shipping liners. "Where else would I have found out what liners to use? Hanna joked.

“It helped me waste less time and money,” Regina said. “I mean don’t get me wrong I’ve made a ton of mistakes, especially with shipping and buying different products…but she has done a nice job with her outlines in her books of this is what you want to sell.”