The Amish startup that tells a love story

Amos Yoder is an Amish startup founder who took on an interesting challenge by telling the story of a new retail company he's building called Kinfork. In his work for Keystone Family Farms, a co-operative of small independent family farmers in central Pennsylvania, Amos found he was not building a narrative around one set of customers, but rather two. On the one hand, he had to find a way to appeal to health-conscious consumers who would find cheese from their well-bred cows appealing; while on the other hand, he had to appeal to the farmers themselves to convince them to bring their milk to the new enterprise. Amos discovered that he had to create a bridge, as he calls it, to bring these two constituents together. It had to tell a love story.

A great love story is captivating because it tells the story of two very different people who somehow end up together. We get to know the story's two characters who need different things, and watch how a series of events ultimately lead them to fall in love. Take the classic movie, When Harry Met Sally. When they meet, Sally is a cheerful optimist who imagines her next move to New York as the first step towards launching an exciting career in journalism. Harry is an avowed pessimist who warns Sally that she might end up living alone in town and dying in her flat without anyone knowing it happened. How could they end up together? Turns out (spoiler alert), they both provide something the other needs. Sally could handle being a little more grounded and Harry needs a little hope in his life. They are made for each other!

Amos' startup story features two protagonists like a good love story: the consumer and the farmer.

The consumer is a health-conscious adult who is deeply invested in learning about the food they serve their family. Typically, this is a parent obsessed with giving their children only the healthiest foods. Alternatively, it could be a middle-aged person who is becoming increasingly health conscious and wary of food additives (included by big manufacturers to extend shelf life) that can aggravate a condition. medical. These people know the ingredients of their food better, because there is so much more information at their fingertips on the internet, and they are committed to taking the time to research it. For example, they might discover that large cheese factories use a mixture of separate dairy components – both liquid and dry – such as cream, skim milk and skim milk powder. They are also wary of natural and organic food brands because they wonder if these brands are all they claim to be.

Now let's move on to the other character in this story. The Amish farmer is an expert in agriculture. Their traditional methods provide higher total solids in milk and lower somatic cell counts, resulting in higher quality milk. But how can they get better margins on their goods to receive fair value for this better production? They are not consumer marketing experts. They don't know how to find and target their ideal client. They are not qualified to create consumer products. And they need help telling an effective story.

Kinfork is the bridge that brings them together and meets both sets of needs.

The Kinfork brand produces cheese products created using traditional Amish methods of responsible farming and environmental stewardship. The culture of the Plain community is the basis of this approach (“Plain” is a term to describe groups such as the Amish who choose to live simply). These families in the valleys east of State College PA (including Penn's, Brush, Sugar and Nittany Valley) have been using sustainable farming methods for generations. They feed their cows an optimal mixed ration of rolled grain and fermented fodder (compacted grass), which is a higher quality feed in part because it is produced without the use of tractors. They look after small herds of only 40 to 50 cows per family. They know each cow individually and give them names, which most cows recognize! This approach ensures the long-term health and well-being of land and animals. Cheese is made only from whole milk, cheese cultures, salt and enzymes. As a result, it is higher in protein, tastes great, and is free of additives now common in most foods. And unlike other "natural food" brands, Kinfork is built on not only a commitment to healthy eating, but also a lifestyle that embraces simplicity.

For farmers, the Kinfork brand gives them what they cannot create on their own. Kinfork uses a thoughtful consumer marketing approach to take the steps necessary to find their ideal customer, build the Kinfork...