Eggs, bread, beef, coffee beans, blueberries, olive oil, avocados, and pasta. If your grocery list looks anything like this, Farmhouse Delivery can help you buy it all from Texas farmers, ranchers, and makers, and deliver it to your door in eco-friendly packaging.
If the name rings a bell, it’s because Farmhouse Delivery has been around since 2009, aside from a brief hiatus for the second half of 2024. In those years, founder Stephanie Scherzer said Farmhouse Delivery has invested more than $25 million in the local food economy.
As for the concept, think farm-to-table, but make it delivery. We sat down with Scherzer to learn more about her passion for eating local.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
What inspired you to start Farmhouse Delivery?
Scherzer: “I came from Dallas, went to Ole Miss — no agriculture in my background — started working at the Natural Gardener, bought property in east Austin, and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve never grown my food.’ I started delivering the excess that I was growing to restaurants because I had friends who were chefs. ...
As I grew my own food and tasted the difference, I was like, ‘wow, how do I share this? And why is it easier to get a banana than it is to buy a local cucumber?’ (Farmhouse Delivery) was grocery delivery before grocery delivery.”
What has changed since the relaunch of Farmhouse Delivery?
Scherzer: "(I) realized I’m in the job of teaching and inspiring people how to cook. ... I got inspired to take to the kitchen and create meal kits without all the plastic, without all the waste, not dependent on the supply chain, but really just another way to sell more produce from locally grown farms. ... And once you taste this food, it’s really hard to go back.”
What percentage of Farmhouse Delivery’s farmers and ranchers live in Central Texas?
Scherzer: “80% — it’s hyperlocal. There are some things like the mangoes and the avocados that come from down in the valley — that’s the furthest. Leafy greens, carrots, eggs, we try to do that all within probably 100 miles.”
How does Farmhouse Delivery help reduce food waste?
Scherzer: “People have to order 72 hours ahead of time and then we place the orders exactly to what they’ve ordered. (If we order) 32 bunches of onions, (the farmer) harvests that number. ... Right now, we’re working at under 2%, almost 1%, of food waste, and really that goes into the Farmhouse Kitchen.
We work with a company called Hungry that does our third-party delivery and they’re a closed-loop logistics company. They bring the bags and the bins back, we sanitize and resend, and we’ve gone almost all compostable in all of our prepared foods. Our meal kits (also) come in compostable containers.”
Fresh food has a reputation of being expensive — how do you combat that?
Scherzer: “It’s really hard. The true cost of food is not really represented — you see (a burger) for $2.99, and I’m always like, ‘how do they even do that?’ I know what it requires to raise a chicken for six weeks, to process it, and feed it.
Price is something we’re really working on, because I don’t want to feed the top 1%. ... If we were much bigger, that cost could come down. I’ll buy a carrot, and some smaller farmers might need $3 a bunch. A larger, mid-sized farmer might need $1.25, so we do a blending here.”
Does local produce last longer in your fridge than something from the grocery store?
Scherzer: “Definitely. This food is harvested usually within 24 to 48 hours of getting to your table. ... We do a lot to try to preserve the freshness, but I think just the fact that it’s not in a truck coming from 2000 miles away, but really 20 minutes, helps.”
What would you tell a first-time customer about Farmhouse Delivery?
Scherzer: "(Our) garlic magic is a really great product. Also, the beet hummus is one of our stars. The baked goods come in fresh daily — chocolate croissants, and sourdough boules, and we have different fresh-baked cookies.
The other thing is that this food is tariff-free, and when we have all these national scares like E. coli, I can call my vendor ... and we can trace it. There’s no seed oils, no artificial colors, all pastured animals, no antibiotics.”
Farmhouse Delivery is currently only available in Austin — check out how it works.
