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I work on my family's farm. We try to do all-natural sustainable agriculture which includes things like no antibiotics, no drugs, and moving the animals to fresh pasture everyday. We like to think the extra effort shows in our product.
And, in fact, a good number of people would agree because we're fairly popular. Especially our eggs which are the number one thing we sell.
Now, our eggs are good and people know this. Here are a couple stories of what came from our popularity.
First Case
One day, we got a call from a lady who drives in from out of town for our products.
M = Mother (who runs the farm)
L = lady
L: "Hello there, I was wondering if you by any chance would take back any of your old egg cartons?"
M: "Why yes, in fact! If you just take them down to [STORE], they'll take them off your hands and make sure we get them back."
L: "Excellent! You see, I was giving them to my friend who also sells eggs..."
M: "What? Was she using them for sales?"
L: "Yes, she was. But she didn't take off the label or anything..."
Yeah, as it turns out, whoever was getting our cartons would put their eggs in them and then sell with our label. People drive in from other towns for our stuff, so being able to sell with our label would make them think it's us and that they don't have to drive so far to get it.
L: "When I found out, I was so upset that I just stopped giving them to her. I'm glad I can return them to you."
The lady was very nice and returns her cartons to the store whenever she comes in. I don't know what happened with the other person selling eggs, but at least we know they aren't selling their product under our name anymore.
Second Case
As stated before, customers can drop their old egg cartons off at [STORE] so the farms can reuse them. All of the recycled cartons are kept in the back room for the people to claim on their own.
Simple, right?
One day, the phone rings.
M: "Hello?"
L (Different lady): "Hello, I just wanted to call and ask if you have been doing anything different with your eggs."
M: "No... no, we've been doing what we've always have. Why do you ask?"
L: "Well, I'm afraid that this is actually a complaint. We bought your eggs before and loved them, but for some reason they're different this time."
M: "Different? Different how?"
L: "They're... not as good as the other ones. A severe drop in quality from what we've bought from you in the past."
M: "Oh dear. Well, I'm afraid I don't know what could be causing this. I'll be sure to check and see if the chickens are doing anything crazy or if our feed got mixed up or something. Thank you for the call."
This is really concerning to us. Our goal is to have the highest quality product we can deliver and if something went wrong, we want to find it and fix it as soon as possible.
L: "Thank you. Sorry to trouble you with... wait a moment, I see something here on your carton."
M: "What is it?"
L: "It's... why, it's a label for [OTHER FARM]! Here on the dates!"
M: "What?"
L: "Yes, [OTHER FARM] with a new set of dates over your old ones. I didn't even notice it at the store!"
M: "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll contact [STORE] and get this figured out immediately."
One phone call to the manager of [STORE] and a quick trip down there confirms what we were told. In the spot of [OTHER FARM] were cartons of eggs with our label, but also with their own label printed so tiny and bland right over the dates we print on the package that it looked normal and you'd never be able to notice without looking for it.
Now, it's fair to see how this could be passed by the employees at [STORE]. The shelf that contains our products was right next to [OTHER FARM]'s products, and merchandise blends around a fair bit due to limited shelf space.
As it turns out, the back room where people can get back their egg cartons? People from [OTHER FARM] had started swiping ours and tried to sell their product with our label!
Needless to say, a few key people were furious.
So now, they have to give you back your egg boxes when you come in. You can no longer take them yourself, just so this doesn't happen again.
And what happened to [OTHER FARM]? They got dropped from the store for two whole weeks, meaning they have an empty gaping fourteen day hole of no sales whatsoever. We didn't push for anything more because, while what they did was a jerk move, we don't want to have any bad blood between farmers.
At least we know that people won't be trying that again for a long while.
And, in fact, a good number of people would agree because we're fairly popular. Especially our eggs which are the number one thing we sell.
Now, our eggs are good and people know this. Here are a couple stories of what came from our popularity.
First Case
One day, we got a call from a lady who drives in from out of town for our products.
M = Mother (who runs the farm)
L = lady
L: "Hello there, I was wondering if you by any chance would take back any of your old egg cartons?"
M: "Why yes, in fact! If you just take them down to [STORE], they'll take them off your hands and make sure we get them back."
L: "Excellent! You see, I was giving them to my friend who also sells eggs..."
M: "What? Was she using them for sales?"
L: "Yes, she was. But she didn't take off the label or anything..."
Yeah, as it turns out, whoever was getting our cartons would put their eggs in them and then sell with our label. People drive in from other towns for our stuff, so being able to sell with our label would make them think it's us and that they don't have to drive so far to get it.
L: "When I found out, I was so upset that I just stopped giving them to her. I'm glad I can return them to you."
The lady was very nice and returns her cartons to the store whenever she comes in. I don't know what happened with the other person selling eggs, but at least we know they aren't selling their product under our name anymore.
Second Case
As stated before, customers can drop their old egg cartons off at [STORE] so the farms can reuse them. All of the recycled cartons are kept in the back room for the people to claim on their own.
Simple, right?
One day, the phone rings.
M: "Hello?"
L (Different lady): "Hello, I just wanted to call and ask if you have been doing anything different with your eggs."
M: "No... no, we've been doing what we've always have. Why do you ask?"
L: "Well, I'm afraid that this is actually a complaint. We bought your eggs before and loved them, but for some reason they're different this time."
M: "Different? Different how?"
L: "They're... not as good as the other ones. A severe drop in quality from what we've bought from you in the past."
M: "Oh dear. Well, I'm afraid I don't know what could be causing this. I'll be sure to check and see if the chickens are doing anything crazy or if our feed got mixed up or something. Thank you for the call."
This is really concerning to us. Our goal is to have the highest quality product we can deliver and if something went wrong, we want to find it and fix it as soon as possible.
L: "Thank you. Sorry to trouble you with... wait a moment, I see something here on your carton."
M: "What is it?"
L: "It's... why, it's a label for [OTHER FARM]! Here on the dates!"
M: "What?"
L: "Yes, [OTHER FARM] with a new set of dates over your old ones. I didn't even notice it at the store!"
M: "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll contact [STORE] and get this figured out immediately."
One phone call to the manager of [STORE] and a quick trip down there confirms what we were told. In the spot of [OTHER FARM] were cartons of eggs with our label, but also with their own label printed so tiny and bland right over the dates we print on the package that it looked normal and you'd never be able to notice without looking for it.
Now, it's fair to see how this could be passed by the employees at [STORE]. The shelf that contains our products was right next to [OTHER FARM]'s products, and merchandise blends around a fair bit due to limited shelf space.
As it turns out, the back room where people can get back their egg cartons? People from [OTHER FARM] had started swiping ours and tried to sell their product with our label!
Needless to say, a few key people were furious.
So now, they have to give you back your egg boxes when you come in. You can no longer take them yourself, just so this doesn't happen again.
And what happened to [OTHER FARM]? They got dropped from the store for two whole weeks, meaning they have an empty gaping fourteen day hole of no sales whatsoever. We didn't push for anything more because, while what they did was a jerk move, we don't want to have any bad blood between farmers.
At least we know that people won't be trying that again for a long while.
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