Braveheart Cattle Company changed their marketing strategy as their audience changed
MOUNT VERNON, ARK. – Like any industry, when your cattle company drastically (or even gradually) changes not only what it offers but who it sells their products to, how they go about telling their story.
Jonathan Wallace, owner of Braveheart Cattle Company in Mount Vernon, Ark., knows this all too well. When he co-founded the company in 2005 with his dad, William Thomas Wallace (Bill), it was primarily a ranch for the traditional commodity market.
“The partnership was rich in cattle ranching history with Bill (Dad) working, operating and managing ranches from Washington State to Arkansas with me working alongside him at an early age,” Jonathan states on the company website. “In 2014, we were honored to be selected as the Faulkner County Farm Family of the Year. Cattle have always been in the blood of our family and Dad’s vast knowledge of cattle led him to help hundreds of producers later in his career with the University of Arkansas as a beef specialist with the cooperative extension program.”
Braveheart still participates a little in the commodity selling venture but primarily sells cattle by the quarter, half, and whole beef. They hope to get more into the custom cut sector as their capabilities grow, including the potential to open a small storefront where the cuts of meat can be stored and sold directly to the consumer.
“We’ve gone from selling cattle to cattle people to now selling to the cattle consumer,” Jonathan* said. “We’re doing a lot more dealing with the public now. We’ve worked hard to educate and make it simple to buy from us.”
As the company started shifting its focus to selling quarter, half, and whole cattle, it found a great partner in 5R Custom Meats, which is their professional processor.
“They’re just down the road from us and they are great about walking the customers through the* different cuts,” Jonathan said.
When they first started focusing on selling to the consumer, they did well with Facebook sales but soon, that wasn’t enough. They built their website using Barn2Door, which is a platform that provides a website, email program, email marketing, etc.
“We started small, mostly selling our grass-fed ground beef but we would sell out pretty quick,” he said. “We did that for about a year.”
Then, the company moved to using a platform called Barn’s Door to host their website and email marketing. That has allowed for seamless online ordering and a broader reach.
The company now has another venture, more in line with their original roots: they are selling yearling heifers and bred heifers.
“We saw the swing in the market,” Jonathan said as to why the added service area. “We’re trying to not keep all our eggs in one basket.”
They also sell their lower-end calves to the sale barn to help with on-going cash flow.
Paying attention to trends and consumer interests is vital for knowing what moves to make in one’s business, no matter the business. For example, in the cattle industry, there is growing interest in how the cows are fed and cared for from birth to harvest. It’s important be upfront about that information as customers often want to know, Jonathan said.
“In our area, there’s not a lot of ranches that are doing 100 percent grass-fed. We are grass-fed and part grass-finish,” he said. “Our finishing is a 120-day rotation of grain and grass. I want to eventually go to all grass-fed. All our ground hamburger and tenderloins are all grass-fed.”
With all of their ventures, the marketing and communication is a bit different, but a lot is based simply on the same principles.
“You have to set yourself apart. We build good relationships,” Jonathan said. “It’s word of mouth. We be prompt. We make sure that the product or service we are offering is good.”
As new customers come in from the other forms of marketing, they become new relationships to build, he added.
As far as where the industry is going, Jonathan described it as “strong” and more consumer beef and ways for the consumer to get that beef.
“People want to know where their food comes from,” he said. “We have good, clean beef.”
He also foresees more Arkansas ranchers going towards custom consumer beef, a move made easier to navigate with recent changes in legislation.
“I think a lot of producers will do the (Arkansas State Meat Inspection Program) but not me,” he said. “I don’t have a storefront yet to keep all the cuts.”
Regardless of where the industry grows, Jonathan and the family plan to rely on the original ideals that guided the company’s early days.
“Dad’s passing in 2019 was hard on our family but his vision and mission for the ranch is alive and well with now the third generation of Wallace cattlemen living and working on the ranch. With a long tradition of ranching we are here to stay and will be in good hands for generations to come with the leadership and vision that has been put in place for the ranch,” Jonathan wrote on the company website.
