Industry Animal Farming Founded 2007 Type of business Privately held company | Website www.vitalfarms.com Area served United States of America | |
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Headquarters Austin, Texas, United States | ||
Vital farms meet the ranchers whole foods market
Vital Farms is an Austin, Texas based food company that specializes in pasture-raised eggs and pasture-raised butter. Founded in 2007 by Matthew O’Hayer and his wife Catherine Stewart, the company is widely considered to be the leader in the American pasture-raised food industry. The company has been celebrated for not only the quality of their products, but also the way in which they care for their employees and the animals that create their products. They have also been honored for their unique approach to marketing and package design.
Contents
- Vital farms meet the ranchers whole foods market
- Vital farms and red hill farms in petaluma s 2014 butter eggs day parade
- History
- Launch and Whole Foods Relationship
- Innovative Practices and Farming Techniques
- Product Line
- References
Vital Farms uses a standard they set for their famers, that is explained as "108 square feet of outdoor space, a standard that translates to 10 acres for 4,000 birds". Vital Farms Produces pasture-raised, certified organic eggs and poultry with no antibiotics. They Package their products in 100% recycled pulp cartons that can be purchased in many markets including Whole Foods.
Vital farms and red hill farms in petaluma s 2014 butter eggs day parade
History
Vital Farms was founded in 2007 by its CEO, Matthew O’Hayer, and his wife, Catherine Stewart, as a single-site operation on a 27-acre farm plot in Southwest Austin. Since then, the company has increased its network over 100 family-owned farms in six states located in what the company calls the “pasture belt”. The company reported 2012 annual sales of $9.8 million, and is the largest supplier of pasture-raised eggs to Whole Foods Market.
In 1968, when O'Hayer was in junior high school, he delivered eggs to friends and neighbors in Providence, R.I.. But it wasn’t until he raised backyard chickens in the 1980s that he saw firsthand how a hen’s diet affected the quality of her eggs.
Launch and Whole Foods Relationship
Since Vital Farm's launch in 2007, they have had been backed by Whole Foods. The chain’s flagship store in Austin carried its eggs. In 2009, Whole Foods offered a low-interest $100,000 loan to buy feed bins, a tractor and other equipment. In the early days, it was tricky to meet demand, even for a few stores.
Innovative Practices and Farming Techniques
Vital Farms uses a sustainable agriculture technique that affords each egg laying hen a total of 108 square feet of foraging space, which allows for Vital Farms to be one of very few pasture raised eggs recognized by Certified Humane. The pastured poultry technique was pioneered by Joel Salatin as a means to allow each hen an existence that better simulates its natural environment and thus provides a more healthy, nutrient rich egg.
The company has been awarded an exemplary score by the Cornucopia institute a non-profit organization "Seeking economic justice for the family-scale farming community." Vital farms was ranked number one fastest growing food and/or beverage company in the US in 2012 and #2 in 2013.