Ryan Jepsen never set out to be in the foods business, let alone become a distributor. But just five years after getting into local food, that's where he's found himself.
In 2006, Jepsen and his wife Kristine started their own farm in Decorah, Iowa; they began with just five cows, 10 feeder pigs and about 20 chickens. They sold their grass-fed beef and pork at farmers markets, groceries and a local college.
Grass -fed beef was — and is — a hot ticket item, and the Jepsens were getting more demand than they could supply. But still, they weren't making enough money to live on.
"If we don't make any money what we're doing is really in vain,” Ryan Jepsen said. “And I think that's what's lost on people in this whole environmentally friendly local, sustainable foods thing is very little of it is done on economy of scale, that has cash flow, return on investments, balance sheets, investors and people involved that get business."
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