Maximize Delivery Day with Barn2Door
As an Independent Farmer, managing the logistics of direct deliveries can quickly feel overwhelming. By partnering with Barn2Door for your delivery operations — leveraging automated route planning and Delivery-as-a-Service (DaaS) partners — your Farm can implement and grow a reliable delivery service to support your local community. Discover how Barn2Door can accelerate your success, helping your Farm win with convenience, attract more Buyers, and get time back on the Farm.
Why Should Your Farm Get Started with Delivery?
9 out of 10 people want access to local Farm food, but it must be convenient to attract Buyers and change their habits (from purchasing at their local grocery store). To become a part of the “food budget” of local Buyers, your Farm must offer staple products (proteins, produce, and dairy) that are available for delivery to their doorstep.
Farms offering delivery make 2x+ more in average monthly revenue versus Farms that do not offer delivery. However, when getting started, your Farm should focus on starting small and growing a delivery business that can be profitable at scale.
Start Your Farm Delivery Program With Barn2Door + Routific Integration
With the Barn2Door + Routific integration, your Farm can build an initial base of delivery customers that you can fulfill yourself. Routific is a best-in-class routing application that combines route optimization with revenue-generating feature capabilities to make your delivery day smoother and more efficient (95% time savings in route planning). The Routific App offers 100 free deliveries per month (or 25 per week), so your Farm can learn the ins-and-outs of building a direct delivery business.
How your Farm can better manage delivery routes with the Barn2Door + Routific integration:
Barn2Door Pack List Sync: The integration allows Farmers to “sync” their Barn2Door delivery routes into the Routific App for each driver on their mobile phone.
Automated Route Planning: Upon syncing your Barn2Door delivery details, Routific automatically assembles and optimizes the entire route to minimize time and improve fuel and time efficiency.
Order Details: Delivery details for each order populate on the driver’s mobile phone, providing all the information for an individually tailored Buyer experience (including any notes/instructions for a given Buyer).
Delivery Communication: Farmers can customize Buyer notifications to create a delightful delivery experience, always keeping customers informed with delivery confirmation via email and SMS (this is an optional add-on with Routific).
Real-Time Delivery Data: To ensure drivers are on track, Farmers can monitor real-time delivery statuses and communicate accurate estimated time of arrival (ETAs).
Grow Your Farm Business With Delivery-as-a-Service
After your Farm has established 25-100 consistent deliveries each month, a Barn2Door delivery partner is a great way to grow your direct-to-consumer business without taking on additional upfront investments, logistics, labor, or insurance premiums. With Delivery-as-a-Service, a Barn2Door partner will pick-up products from your Farm within 60 miles of major metros, and deliver directly to the doorstep of Buyers.
How Delivery-as-a-Service can make your delivery day hassle-free:
On-Farm Pickups: For Farmers within 60 miles of major US metros, drivers will pick-up products from your Farm, then run your deliveries door-to-door. Simply prep all your packages and labels, then hand off to drivers at your scheduled pick-up time.
Delivery Schedule: Specify the pick-up times and delivery windows that align with your production schedule to reduce overall fulfillment time. Determine precise pickup and delivery instructions for drivers to follow, ensuring a friction-free process.
In-App Data Tracking: Leverage data at your fingertips with in-app tracking to see Buyer ordering habits, return rates, and product volume.
SMS Messaging: Keep Buyers informed with automated SMS notifications of delivery windows, pending arrival, and confirmations.
Real-time Visibility: Buyers receive proactive communications with real-time visibility (on an interactive map) and photo-delivery confirmations for their Farm products.
100% Insured: All drivers and your Farm Products are 100% insured, allowing you to commit your time, energy, and resources to your Farm operations, while someone else handles fulfillments.
Scale Your Farm Delivery Service with a “White Glove” Partner
Once your delivery program is firmly established with your direct-to-consumer business, your Farm may consider scaling delivery options with a “white glove” delivery partner. These delivery partners cater to Farms with specialized needs (e.g., reefer vans), diversified customers (retail and wholesale routes), and/or Farms outside metropolitan areas that need local cross-docking facilities. White glove delivery partners often work with Farms that have an established customer base and high-volume deliveries (e.g., 40-50 deliveries per fulfillment day, 4x per month).
Enhanced delivery options with “white glove” partners:
Vehicle Options for Retail and Wholesale: Delivery partners offer a wide variety of vehicles in each market to support direct-to-consumer (cars, vans, and trucks) and direct-to-wholesale (sprinters and box trucks).
Reefer Vans and Trucks: Delivery partners offer temperature-controlled vehicles — reefer vans and trucks — to keep perishable Farm products fresh in transit. This greatly simplifies packaging and ensures your products arrive chilled at the doorstep of consumers and wholesale Buyers.
Cross-Docking Options: For Farms outside a 60-mile radius of major metropolitan areas, delivery partners offer “cross-docking” options in certain locations for same-day transfer to local delivery vehicles.
Branded “Delivery”: For Farms who are seeking a “branded” experience, delivery partners may offer vehicles with magnetic signage for your Farm and personnel wearing branded Farm swag (e.g., hat & shirt).
Need Help? Barn2Door is Ready to Assist
The Barn2Door team will work with your Farm every step of the way to analyze and configure delivery zones that optimize for Buyer density (maximizing delivery efficiency) and align fulfillments with your production schedule. The goal is to streamline your operations and consistently move your Farm product, while keeping you out of the freezer business. From getting started (your first 25 deliveries) to growing a direct-to-consumer delivery business (100+ deliveries) and scaling your delivery business to serve your retail and wholesale Buyers, Barn2Door is ready to assist.
Learn More: A Farmer’s Guide to Get Started with Delivery
Save Time with Barn2Door Platform Features
As your Farm fulfills orders across multiple Buyers (wholesale, retail, private), and order types (subscriptions, one-time purchases, add-ons), efficiency becomes key to scaling a profitable delivery business. Having a system that keeps your Farm organized eases the headache of assembling orders. Barn2Door provides the software tools your Farm needs to execute your delivery day successfully while saving you 20+ hours a month.
With the Barn2Door platform, your Farm can simplify delivery operations:
Pick and Pack Lists: Farmers can view, export, and print a pick list (for gathering or harvesting products) and a pack list (ideal for filling subscriptions and itemized orders per customer). This automated feature streamlines fulfillments and saves your Farm valuable time.
Easy Print Labels: Farmers can download and print labels to affix to each package (bag, box, or tote) for delivery, including “Buyer” notes for delivery drivers to ensure they have all the details in hand (e.g., mobile phone number, gate code).
Automated Receipts and Invoices: Receipts and/or invoices are automatically assembled and ready to print with a click-of-a-button, including your Farm logo, Buyer details, payment terms, and an itemized summary of each order.
Customizable Scheduling: Delivery schedules can be tailored for wholesale Buyers (grocers, restaurants) and retail consumers. Additionally, the platform supports customized scheduling for individual items, such as seasonal products (e.g., holiday turkeys, summer berries, fall vegetables).
Order Cut-Offs: Farmers can protect their fulfillment schedule by setting item-specific order cut-off times and blackout dates. This gives Buyers limited access to last-minute order add-ons to help manage inventory windows.
“The software has saved me so much time, especially when it comes to tracking inventory and doing deliveries, and keeping everything up to date. I love the way the software communicates with our customers and lets them know what they've ordered and when it's arriving.”
— Lois (PA)
Conclusion
Barn2Door is ready to support your delivery ambitions, from the Barn2Door + Routific integration to growing with a Delivery-as-a-Service partner; you can minimize your time in the delivery van. By leveraging Barn2Door’s delivery partners, optimized route planning, and automated platform features, you can streamline fulfillments, increase order volume, and reclaim 20+ hours every month.
Barn2Door provides Independent Farmers with the software to make more money, ditch the office work, and look like a pro. If you’re curious to learn more, watch this 5-minute video.