Coghlan Cottage Farm + Mercantile

  • THE FARM
    • FAQ
  • ABOUT
    • How We Grow
    • Food Philosophy
  • What's Fresh
    • Pastured Rare Breed Pork
    • Icelandic Lamb
    • Free-Range Pastured Eggs
    • Grass-Fed Beef
    • quail & quail eggs
  • WORKSHOPS
  • Work With Me
  • CONTACT
  • Get The Fresh Sheet
    • FREE Local Food Guide
  • THE FARM
    • FAQ
  • ABOUT
    • How We Grow
    • Food Philosophy
  • What's Fresh
    • Pastured Rare Breed Pork
    • Icelandic Lamb
    • Free-Range Pastured Eggs
    • Grass-Fed Beef
    • quail & quail eggs
  • WORKSHOPS
  • Work With Me
  • CONTACT
  • Get The Fresh Sheet
    • FREE Local Food Guide

First-come, first-Served? Nope.

5/24/2019

0 Comments

 
Don't you hate it when your phone company offers some skookum deal for new customers and leaves you and your years of loyalty in the lurch?

​You know how it goes . . . You get a notice your bill is going up by five bucks a month, again, and then you hear a promo for new customers offering three years at 50% off - or something else equally annoying.

You've been a loyal customer forking over your hard earned moola for year after year and what do you get for it?

BUNK. That's what.

Kinda sucks, doesn't it?

We sure think so. That's why . . .

We don't DO first-come, first-served.

We've done business this way for a long time now.  We've learned some folks have trouble wrapping their head around it. After all, money's money, right? Right?

Turns out, money isn't everything!

​(No really. It isn't.)

People first

I've worked for huge multi-national corporations. Lots of 'em. So when I started this little heart-driven business I swore that by-gosh and by-golly I'd be darned if I played by their rules.

We aren't farming to get rich and I don't have any shareholders to answer to. No one needs to see my quarterly earnings and I don't have to play the game of growth-for-growth's sake. Therefore, I have the luxury of DOING THE RIGHT THING.

​Whoa boy. What a radical way to do business, am I right??

​So guess what. Our people, our Farm Family, come first.

loyalty is really, really rare. Really really.

Loyalty is viewed in our culture as fuddy-duddy out-dated, old fashioned and maybe even something we should avoid. (After all, if you're loyal, how are you ever gonna score those awesome 50% off deals from the phone company?? You'll be that dope who's stuck paying an extra five bucks a month, year after year. No one wants to be that guy.)

And yet, we have customers who have come to see us week in and week out, often from significant distance, for nearly eight years now. When we don't have eggs - they just don't eat any. They learn to cook their food differently so that our animals can have a better life. They tell their friends and complete strangers about us. They've watched our kids grow, been sounding boards, offered business advice and shared laughs and glasses of wine and even during our darkest days, they were there. 

​They support us unendingly in our farming adventure, and really - it's their adventure too.

​There isn't a week that goes by that I don't count my blessings that I get to serve such an amazing, kind, generous tribe of folks who give a sh*t about where their food comes from. Honestly. It is humbling.

The least we can do is return the favour

So when Gerry, who's been with us since our youngest was a wee babe, rides his Harley out all the way from White Rock to see us, who shares business wisdom generously, who happily sings our praises to customers old and new . . . When he needs eggs? Guess what. He gets 'em! (We love you, Gerry!)

And Lila who's here every other week and whom my kids love like a Gramma? (And who brings treats like a Gramma does to boot?) Her too. Mwah.

Or Olga who literally feeds me as often as I feed her, who always arrives with homemade bread or Russian tea cakes? Yup. Her too.

Or the Rachel and Mel who came with food and flowers and hugs when my Mom died? You're getting the idea now? You got it. 

See? It's not about money. (Told you.)

We insist you come and see us because we want to KNOW YOU and we want you to actually KNOW your food. Really know it. Know the animals by name, the soil through the seasons, what it REALLY takes to put food on your table. We want you to build a relationship with your food beyond slogans and marketing buzz-words.

​We VALUE that relationship. It's not about hooking you on some three year contract and then jacking up the price by five bucks every year and forgetting about you, while we rush off to chase the next shiny new thing.

So if you're new to the farm and we don't have eggs or pork for you, we're sorry we can't serve everyone. We really are.

We are a small farm rooted in the limits of biology and ecology - our own limits included. But we want you to know why. Why we don't just give our eggs to the first person with a handful of cash. Why we limit our eggs to six dozen per family per week.

​It's not that we wouldn't love to have you as a customer, it's just that we think that loyalty, gratitude, people and community ought to come before profits and the undisciplined pursuit of more.

If you GET IT, and are willing to be patient until we have room on our list, well, you're our kind of people. We're so glad you're here.

We think our customers are pretty amazing humans, and we think you will too.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

HOURS

LOCATION

FARM GATE SALES:
The farm is open Fridays and Saturdays 1 to 5. Pre-order strongly recommended.


PLEASE NOTE :
THE FARM IS OUR HOME.
We are available during scheduled farm hours ONLY. Please respect our privacy outside of farm gate hours. 
6238 256 STREET, LANGLEY

Less than 10 minutes from Fort Langley, just off Highway One.

CONTACT

PHONE: 778-772-6516
EMAIL: stacey@coghlancottagefarm.com
We accept cash, debit tap, Apple Pay and major credit cards.

ABOUT OUR FARM
How We Grow
​Food Philosophy
​Meet The Farmers
​FAQ

Coghlan Cottage Farm + Mercantile | Organic Family Farm, Slow Lifestyle Store + Handmade Pastured Lard Soap | 6238 256th Street, Langley  BC | stacey@coghlancottagefarm.com