Farmer Focus, the only 100% organic and Humane Certified chicken company with a mission to promote and protect generational family farms, announces the appointment of Ed Hinson as chief sales officer along with expansion into several new grocery outlets.
Hinson brings over 25 years of sales experience in the food industry. He joins Farmer Focus from Dean Foods, where he held several senior-level commercial roles, including leading sales for Dean’s ice cream business and its expansion into new customers and geographies. Before that, he served in executive roles spanning strategy, sales and finance at Campbell Soup and as a consulting manager in Accenture’s Food & CPG Practice.
As CSO, Hinson will continue building on Farmer Focus’ growing retail presence while expanding the brand to reach new customers, channels and geographies. He will lead strategy and evolve processes across sales and supply chain teams that have doubled in 2021.
“I was immediately drawn to Farmer Focus as a rapidly growing, mission-based company with tremendous potential for brand growth,” said Hinson. “In addition to my sales background in the food industry, I grew up around farming and ranching in a small town so I have a personal passion to address the challenges facing those involved in agriculture.”
Hinson joins the company at a pivotal time. Farmer Focus has partnered with retailers including Meijer, Publix, Kroger Mid-Atlantic, Harris Teeter and Fresh Market in the past year. Thanks to this expansion at retail, Farmer Focus grew its family of farmers to over 70 independent family farmers.
Farmer Focus is leading organic category growth by fueling demand from consumers seeking more than just organic certification. These attributes, along with the company’s commitment to sustainability, mirror consumer trends that bring new customers into the organic category.
“In addition to attracting new consumers to Farmer Focus, we are growing the organic chicken category as a whole,” said Erik Vaughan, Farmer Focus president and COO. “We are excited for Ed to develop our team and leverage his experience to grow our business and our family of farmer partners.”
Farmer Focus’ retail presence now spans over 2,500 stores and continues to grow. Online products are available on FreshDirect and Crowd Cow.
This news is just the most recent indication of Farmer Focus’ success. Other noteworthy metrics include:
- In 2021, the Farmer Focus farming family grew by 62%. The company currently works with over 70 family farms, with over 100 more on the waiting list.
- Farmer Focus is the #1 fastest growing organic chicken brand in grocery stores over the 52-week period ending 9/5/21 as indicated by IRI data.
- Farmer Focus is the #2 organic chicken brand in grocery stores over the latest 13 weeks, as indicated by IRI Sales Data Period ending 9/5/21.
