Bertha Magaña.

At the beginning of 2020, Bertha was feeling positive about her prospects for Magaña Farm, especially after a challenging year during which her husband Heriberto had to step back from the business due to health issues. Having achieved land security through farmland ownership - a hard-to-reach milestone in the region - as well as developed promising crop production plans, the pieces were in place to continue building their business’ long-term viability.

With the arrival of COVID, however, Bertha was hit with a number of personal and business obstacles, including taking on additional responsibilities as the primary caregiver for her grandchildren, and a price reduction from the farm’s wholesale distributor and primary revenue source.

With the support of KTA farm business advisor, Tania Zuñiga, Bertha took stock of the situation and identified a need to adjust her plans and business model. Together, they landed on a new market access strategy: building direct relationships with retail and distribution partners who could commit to a set price point and consistent volume.

Tania collaborated with community champions at Tera Farms, to develop a produce box program designed to source from Bertha and other KTA clients who needed to pivot to direct-to-consumer sales during the pandemic. Meanwhile she suggested that Bertha look for additional prospective buyers in the Santa Cruz area, since Bertha was already selling to a local grocery, Staff of Life. Together, this dynamic duo headed out on a round of visits to stores; by the end of their first day they had established relationships with three different groceries in the area and a hopeful outlook on an unprecedented year.

Marsha Habib & Modesto Sanchez-Cruz.

Pre-COVID, Marsha Habib and Modesto Sanchez-Cruz of Oya Organics relied heavily on farmers markets in the San Francisco Bay Area as their primary source of revenue. Once the pandemic struck, everything changed.

During the first few weeks of COVID, Oya Organics’ farmers market sales plummeted and the family felt much uncertainty about the enduring impacts to their livelihood. Not only were customers afraid of visiting the markets, but Oya’s employees were also concerned for their own health. And with two young kids, they suddenly had to figure out how to balance childcare. Marsha and Modesto quickly make adjustments to both support their team and family while navigating the loss of income.

They shifted focus from growing their farmers market channels to expanding their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. With promotional support from KTA, Oya Organics’ was able to bring on 100 new CSA members in one week. This pivot in Oya Organics’ model - and the countless hours they put into training their staff and continuing to adapt to the needs of their business and home - enabled them to sustain both farm operations and their family.