Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tom Deacon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tom, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I founded Fable in 2015 because I wanted a source of healthy, nutrient-rich food for my family that was free of harmful pesticides. During my train commutes into Manhattan I was reading about the toxic chemicals used in our food system and it scared me and my soon-to-be wife as we were ready to start a family. The backyard garden that started out as a hobby, turned into a full-scale farm serving my family, friends, and the community farm fresh produce. We now offer a CSA, serve restaurants, donate to food pantries, and turned a beautiful 1700’s barn into a local food hub.
Tom, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
While growing in our backyard garden I started reaching out to chefs looking for local produce. After sending off a few emails I quickly received a response back with an enthusiastic, “yes!”. I started to seek land available for rent and came across the beautiful farmland located in Yorktown, NY. I partnered with my wife, brother, and first employee Anne (all who had little to no experience) and we spent a lot of time doing research and work by trial-and-error. But we learned from our mistakes a have grown the business into a wonderful farm with three 3,000 square foot greenhouses, nearly 300 egg laying chickens, and we work with other amazing local farms and small businesses to serve their produce and baked goods too. It has become a full-on local food hub. We also host educational classes for students, workshops, farm-to-table dinners, and seasonal Farm Fests.
I feel like we are creating a wonderful new type of modern farm that is vibrant, educates consumers on the importance of eating healthy and why paying more for organic food is not only beneficial to them, but farmers and the local economy. Imagine shopping at a store for your groceries and actually seeing where it came from? This aspect of changing the food industry is what I am most proud of my team for accomplishing.
Have you ever had to pivot?
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic we lost all our restaurant accounts. This deeply hurt out business, plus the fact that our market in the barn was rather small (at the time) and I worried about guests wanting to shop in it. Within one week we created an only store and implemented contactless pickup (I believe the first in our area) and we nearly tripled our business. We started reaching out to other farms and food producers who had trouble selling their product, and turned our small farmstand into a local food hub.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
During my train commutes into Manhattan (where I am a Producer for HBO), I started reading about the toxic chemicals in the food system. After growing on my small patio for awhile I started to reach out to local chefs (mentioned in a previous answer). Since 2015 we have called up greatly, running into many challenging obstacles along the way, but we now have three 3,000 square foot greenhouses, nearly 300 egg laying chickens, and we work with other amazing local farms and small businesses to serve their produce and baked goods too. It has become a full-on local food hub. We also host educational classes for students, workshops, farm-to-table dinners, and seasonal Farm Fests.
Surviving the pandemic and tripling both our customers and revenue was a huge milestone for us, not just because of the numbers (expenses tripled too!) but because we were able to introduce ourselves to more the community and they not only embraced us, but stayed with us. The fact that our mission, quality of produce, and customer service is appreciated means we’re doing something right.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fablefoods.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/fablefoods
- Facebook: Facebook.com/fablefoods
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fable-from-farm-to-table
- Twitter: twitter.com/fablefoods
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fablefromfarmtotable2121
Image Credits
Tom Deacon James Drohan Jill Paice