2023: A Year In Review

I hummed and hawed about whether to write a year in review post this year because guys, this year was so stinking hard!

Maybe it’s because I was rolling into 2023 on a high from an incredible year in 2022 where I saw so much growth in business and personally and for the first time in years I was feeling settled with the purchase of our home in Grand Forks.

What can I say, life has a way of throwing us curveballs sometimes and 2023 was that year for me. But, like my daily gratitude practice reminds me, even in the hardest of days we can find the good if we slow down to look for it.

Our Mini Rebrand

This year we finally gave Central Park Farms a mini facelift. For years we were still using family photos for years ago… for real, Jagger was 10 in all the photos on our website and he now has his driver’s license. Our old website lacked pictures of the products we sell and the colour scheme hadn’t matured since I was a 28-year-old farmer yet I’m now 37.

Needless to say it was time so I got down to it — I hired a photographer to photograph our food and one to shoot photos of our crew and I spent hours building a new site (this site) from scratch. It was a lot of work but I really think it does a better job telling our story and more importantly it better shows you what you’re getting when you place an order with our farm.

Increased Revenue

Now that the year has wrapped up I could get our final numbers together and I’m thrilled to see that we increased our gross sales this year by 49.4%… no wonder we felt so busy!

I try not to get too bogged down in the gross numbers because that isn’t often a reflection of the strength of a business especially during high inflation but we set out to serve more customers this year and feed more members of our community and I’m honoured that we achieved that goal.

Giving Back

With that increased revenue, we were able to give back in a bigger way this year. In 2023 we donated over 1,500lbs of meat to local food banks both in Langley where we farm and the Boundary where our ranch is.

A huge part of our commitment to feed our community includes doing what we can to put meals on the tables of those who need some extra help as well. We believe everyone deserves the right to have access to healthy food and with your support this year we were able to provide more support in that area.

Hands down this was the highlight for me as I reflected on our achievements this year.

Reconnecting With You

After we pulled out of farmers markets there was a bit of time there when I started to feel more disconnected with our incredible customers when we leaned fully into online ordering with delivery. I mean, I know you all got to know Dayton well and hung out with me online but I was no longer getting to chat with you all in person and that was something we were committed to change in 2023.

With that in mind we really leaned into the farm store and worked hard to make it more welcoming to encourage more of you to come hang out and shop with us. Now I’ll admit, I’m not always able to be there but when I am, I love the conversations I get to have with you all. So if you’re shopping at the store and see me around be sure to come introduce yourself!

Team Changes

Now this one was tough because we lost some incredible people this year BUT the positive is that they took advantage of some great opportunities for themselves and we added some great people to replace them.

This year saw our rockstar crew member Makenna go on to work full time at her family farm. We miss her but I’m so happy that she gets to be back on her family farm — I love that our farm supports our family so it’s cool that she’ll be back at her home farm too.

We also saw Chef Adrian and his wife Shannon sell the restaurant and move to be closer to their family and take on a great opportunity for them. I’m not sure how many details they’ve shared publicly on their new roles so I’ll leave it at that but we’re really happy for them and value our time as partners in our prepared food line.

But with the losses we’ve also added great people. Jay’s best friend since elementary school Doug and his partner Carla joined the team and we’re working to finalize some new partners for prepared food that should be starting in the coming weeks so stay tuned for that.

On Farm Butchery

At the end of the year we received the health authority approval to handle 100% of our butchery on farm. I can’t tell you how incredible that feels not only as a reminder than our health and safety protocols meet and exceed the requirements but it’s also piece of mind that we won’t need to rely as heavily on others.

We will still be in partnership with our incredible butchers Lepp Farm Market for curing, smoking, and extra support when needed but this is just one more way we can ensure we’re around to serve you for many more years to come.

You

Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart for your support this year! If you’ve shopped with us once, shared one of our posts on your social media, referred us to a friend, or if we’re lucky enough to call you a regular customer, you are all part of our farm-ily and all play a part in helping us continue this journey.

Thank you for choosing our family to help feed yours. It’s something I don’t take lightly.

Your farmer, Kendall