- transparency in where their food comes from.
- a great place to order meat online for delivery or pick-up.
- the highest quality meat.
But until now, entering the world of ecommerce was complicated for these small businesses.
That's where ChopLocal comes in.
Founded by Iowa farmers in 2020, ChopLocal is an online marketplace that makes it easy for farmers and butchers to connect with modern meateaters. We simplify the process from farm-to-fork, support small businesses, and provide the best-tasting meat around.
Agriculture is in his blood.
As a 4th generation farmer in southeast Iowa, there was never any doubt that ChopLocal Founder and CEO Jared Achen would return to the farm after completing his education. Alongside his father, sister and brother-in-law, he raises turkeys and row-crops in southeast Iowa.
Despite his plans to farm after graduation, Achen participated in the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Program at Iowa State University while working on his bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Business.
“I used to sit around and come up with business ideas, but my friends and family would talk me out of them,” Achen says. “This is the first idea that everyone I’ve talked to fully supports.” Read more...
Just over six years ago, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu) was discovered on a Minnesota turkey farm. And in a roundabout way, that event led ChopLocal’s co-founder, Katie Olthoff, down the professional - and personal - path she’s on today.
Katie’s passion for helping farmers developed long before bird flu made its way to the midwest. Born and raised in rural Iowa, Katie did not grow up on a farm, but entered farm life as a young newlywed and mom. After getting married and graduating from Iowa State University in 2006, she and her husband, Bart, built a turkey farm and moved to the house where he grew up in 2008. Read more...
ChopLocal is, at its core, about people and community. Jared and I (Katie) started this company a year ago in order to help individual farmers and small business owners compete against the massive corporations that currently control the meat supply chain in the United States.
The newest member of our team not only deeply understands our mission and the people and communities it affects, but he excels at getting to know people and finding solutions to their problems.
Mark Putney, ChopLocal’s new Director of Business Development, is an experienced farmer and project manager from Elgin, Iowa. He will be working to support ChopLocal’s current sellers and expand the network to include sellers from other regions of the United States. Read more...
Email: support@choplocal.com
