“
The gardening
industry is so vast,
yet we tend to focus
on one crop when
there are so many
different angles
for anyone to
journey down.”
There’s so much consumer de-education
through marketing designed to make
the consumer feel like they’ve learned
something new. When, in fact, they’ve
been de-educated and duped into
a marketing ploy. It all started with
Bernay’s Public Relations (propaganda)
in the 1920s and it’s only gotten worse
since. We believe that our customers
are smarter than we are, and product
sampling is a way for them to use their
expertise to come to a conclusion.
We suspect you’re not
hand-bottling on the front
porch anymore?
We have moved several times, each
time moving to a larger facility. We’ve
needed to expand since the demand
for SLF-100 has increased. Bottling by
hand isn’t an option anymore. We’ve
automated but not to a point that
we don’t need hands-on and I don’t
imagine us ever getting to that point.
Where does South Cascade
Organics distribute?
We currently distribute in the US and
started up in Canada in 2019. We are
close to being in the UK. We will see
what 2020 has to offer.
Are the kids still helping out?
Currently we have six people working
for the company. My wife
and I and our four kids.
What is a vital asset required
when starting a company?
Patience.
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Maximum Yield
What are SCO’s strengths?
Our strength as a company has to be
our relationships with our customers.
The involvement with our customer
base makes South Cascade Organics
what it is and without them we are not
a company. We want to be involved
with our customers, we want to answer
questions through email or phone calls.
We want to treat our customers the way
we would want to be treated.
Any proud moments
you want to tell us about?
Recognition from customers has to be
our proudest moments. Every once and a
while we receive an email thanking us
for saving a garden or thanking us for
creating a product that works so well.
Being able to connect with so many
people around the country and partici-
pate in their lives means the world to us.
Finding some of the best honey through
a customer on the coast of Oregon, some
of the best coffee from customers in
Hawaii and going to dinner with friends
in Massachusetts. These are the proud-
est moments in business.
What have you learned about the
industry over the past few years?
That for the most part customers in
this industry have huge hearts. They
really care about each other and the
businesses they decide to partner with.
Also, the diversity of the industry is
huge, I can be talking to a 20-year-old
cultivator in Michigan about her issues
in hydroponics one minute and the
next a 70-year-old organic gardener in
the Pacific Northwest about his bees.