We recently connected with Ben Burch and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Mindi and myself (Ben) started talking about the idea of opening a farm market when we were at Virginia Tech. In the Summer of 2023, we really started to piece together an idea. We knew we wanted to carry our own beef from our family farm and exclusively carry products from the state of Virginia with all Meat, Dairy, and Produce being as local as possible.

Our family farm is located right off I-81 at the 269 exit, meaning our market would be within seconds of a major interstate. We also have numerous well-established attractions near us such as the Shenandoah Caverns, Shenandoah Valley Campground, and Route 11 Chips. On top of that the southern campus for SCPS is right next to us. Between all of these factors we believed we had potential to have a successful business.

For us having a farm market that only sells local meats and produce is something we are committed to doing. We want people in the area to have access to food that is grown here. This is a major part of our business, and we are proud to be able to work with so many great people in our community!

Ben, 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?

I grew up on my family’s beef farm that was started by my ancestors in the 18th century. Mindi grew up working on a local dairy farm. Both of us have been involved in the agriculture industry since we were kids. We wanted to not only make a business that would sell our own products but give other local farmers another way to sell their products.

We are proud of being able to say that we sell local products such as Beef, Pork, Chicken, Lamb, Eggs, Dairy, and Produce. Building relationships with the people we work with is huge for us and we hope to work with these people for a very long time.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for us has been word of mouth and Facebook. Nearly every day we have someone mention they stopped by because someone recommend us to them. Reshares on Facebook help us a ton as well, it allows more people who don’t know about us find us. Currently at 9 months into the business we have grown to just shy of 1.7k followers on Facebook. Having a free source for marketing such as Facebook is huge for a growing business like us.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Mindi and I met through FFA in High School and were friends doing our time in school. During our time at Virginia Tech we started dating and later got married. We have been able to bounce ideas off of each other for our business for years now and we are both committed to growing our business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cornermarketfarmtotable.com/
• Instagram: cornermarketfarm2table
• Facebook: Corner Market Farm to Table