Porter Farms

What Porter Farms does

Porter Farms is a family-owned organic farm headquartered at 4911 Edgerton Road, Elba, New York, operating more than 500 acres of which 100 acres are dedicated to vegetable crops producing 25+ varieties of organic produce. The farm was founded in 1956 by Jack and Dorothy Porter after they met at Cornell University and is currently operated by family members Kathy Riggs-Allen, Katie Porter Metzler, Pete Metzler, and Crystal Woodward. It transitioned to organic production beginning in 1990, with its first organic field certified by NOFA-NY under USDA standards, and co-founder Jack Porter was instrumental in establishing organic certification criteria.

The company's core product is a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription program — the first CSA in Western New York — launched in 1996 with 100 member families and grown to over 600 member families served weekly across a 20-week growing season. Members receive produce distributed the day after harvest, supported by a Chef's Corner recipe program with on-site sampling at the Farm Store on Saturday mornings. Supporting revenue streams include wholesale produce accounts (secondary), branded merchandise (e.g., Solar Eclipse T-shirts), and community events such as the 2024 Solar Eclipse watch party hosted on-site.

Porter Farms monetizes primarily through seasonal CSA subscriptions billed annually, with membership pricing not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is community-led: word-of-mouth referrals, an active social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok, recipe-driven content marketing, email newsletters, and on-farm community events drive acquisition and retention. The business is entirely bootstrapped and family-financed — no venture capital, private equity, parent company, or public-market listing is disclosed — and it serves a single regional segment: families and individuals in Western New York seeking certified-organic, locally-grown produce.

Name

Porter Farms

Legal name

Porter Farms

Website

https://porterfarms.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Supported Agriculture (Organic Produce)

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm-to-Consumer Produce Boxes / CSA Delivery (AFAIANAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fresh Food Subscription/CSA & Produce Box Retail (CRAHAHAG)

Keywords

• Organic produce farming
• Community supported agriculture
• CSA subscription program
• Fresh organic vegetables
• Farm-to-consumer produce

Headquarters

HQ city

Elba

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. CSA Membership Subscriptions: Community-Supported Agriculture membership providing fresh organic produce to member families over a 20-week season. Started with 100 member families in 1996 and now serves over 600 member families.
2. Wholesale Produce Sales: Wholesale accounts for organic produce distribution, though secondary to the CSA priority.
3. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded merchandise including t-shirts (Solar Eclipse T-shirt at $20.00) and eclipse safety glasses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Porter Farms operates a 20-week Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription delivering fresh USDA-certified organic produce to over 600 member families across Western New York, with produce distributed the day after harvest. The farm grows 25+ varieties of organic vegetables and fruits on 100 acres within its 500+ acre property in Elba, NY, and supplements the CSA with a Farm Store, the Chef's Corner recipe program, and branded merchandise.

Product overview

Porter Farms operates a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program as its core offering — a 20-week seasonal subscription delivering fresh organic produce to members, with over 600 member families. The CSA serves as the company's primary focus and top priority. Supporting the CSA are the Chef's Corner recipe program (featuring weekly recipes from farm chefs Brad and Becky Kujawski with complementary samples at distribution), and merchandise such as the Solar Eclipse T-shirt. Two additional programs — a Loyalty Program and Referral Program — are listed as currently unavailable.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organic CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) Subscription A 20-week seasonal subscription program delivering weekly distributions of fresh, USDA-certified organic produce to member families across Western New York. Members receive 25+ varieties of organic vegetables and fruits distributed the day after harvest.
• Solar Eclipse T-shirt Branded t-shirt featuring a solar eclipse design, sold at $20.00 per unit in connection with the Total Solar Eclipse 2024 watch party at the farm. Available for pre-order with multiple sizes.
• Chef's Corner Recipe Program Weekly recipe resource program where farm chefs Brad and Becky Kujawski prepare recipes using the farm's fresh organic produce; CSA members receive complementary samples in the Farm Store on Saturday mornings during distribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600 member families served across Western New York
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Alabama HotelminorOthers · 8 April 2024Partnered with Alabama Hotel for concessions during the Total Solar Eclipse 2024 watch party event at the farm. The hotel provided food concessions for sale during the event which attracted over 218 attendees.
• Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY)coreOthers · 1 January 1990NOFA-NY conducts the organic certification process for Porter Farms, regulating and verifying that all farmland meets certified organic standards. This is a regulatory partnership ensuring USDA-compliant organic certification.
• Organic Farming Research FoundationcoreOthersPorter Farms co-founder Steve Porter served as a board member of the Organic Farming Research Foundation, contributing to research and advocacy for organic farming practices.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Thrive Market: Online membership-based retailer of organic and natural groceries shipped nationwide. Overlapping organic-food, membership-subscription positioning, but a much broader catalog than a single-farm CSA.
• Whole Foods Market: National organic and natural foods retailer with broad private-label and produce assortment. Overlaps with Porter Farms on the organic-consumer segment but distributes at scale through grocery stores rather than farm-direct subscriptions.

Direct peers

• Misfits Market: National online subscription service delivering organic produce directly to consumers. Highly comparable subscription/recurring-revenue model with direct-to-consumer produce distribution, though operating nationally rather than regionally.
• Hungry Harvest: Produce subscription service that rescues surplus and 'imperfect' produce to deliver weekly boxes to subscribers. Closely aligned CSA-style subscription model with direct consumer relationships.
• Norwich Meadows Farm: New York State organic farm running a CSA serving NYC and upstate customers. Directly comparable certified-organic CSA in the same state with similar member-family subscription structure.
• Full Circle: Organic produce and grocery delivery subscription delivering boxes to homes regionally. Comparable recurring produce subscription model with organic sourcing emphasis.
• Farm Fresh To You: California-based CSA delivering organic produce boxes directly from farms to consumer homes. Closely matched subscription CSA model with farm-to-consumer positioning and organic certification.
• Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative: Pennsylvania-based organic cooperative of family farms that runs a multi-farm CSA program distributing certified-organic produce to member households. Strongly analogous cooperative CSA model with organic certification.

Regional players

• Wegmans: Major regional grocery chain headquartered in Rochester, NY with deep Western New York penetration. Competes with Porter Farms for the same regional organic-produce consumer dollars, but through conventional supermarket distribution rather than CSA subscriptions.

Emerging players

• Square Roots: Tech-enabled urban farming operator producing and distributing fresh produce to local retail and subscription customers. Comparable direct-to-consumer fresh produce mission with a technology-augmented model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PorterFarmsCSA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCc65HkNFQ4KWkwXBKY2Ai5w
• Facebookfacebook.com/porterfarmscsa
• Instagraminstagram.com/porterfarmscsa
• TikToktiktok.com/@porterfarmscsa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/porter-farms

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Porter Farms