As people turn older, they give up on their dreams and ambitions and pursue a regular lifestyle. However, the story of 68-year-old Matthew O’Hayer is not that cliche. The man started “about 50 businesses” to fulfill his ambition of getting rich. However, he gained success only after he stopped “trying to get rich.” The 68-year-old started Vital Farms because of the “deeper purpose” that he believed in. As of now, the company happens to be the US’ largest producer of pasture-raised eggs. Also, it is worth more than $450 million.
Matthew spoke to CNBC about what actually made this happen. He claimed that he was inspired by a blog post on “conscious capitalism” written by Whole Foods Market co-founder and friend John Mackey in 2006. The post spoke about seeking a balance between profitability and social responsibility.
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The post impacted him and his work so much that Vital Farms is now on track to bring in $465 million in revenue this year.
After reading the blog post Matthew started looking up business ideas with a “deeper purpose.” This is when he found himself drawn to the egg industry. He discovered that 90 per cent of the egg-producing hens in the world live in cages.
He started in 2007, when he bought a 27-acre farm in Texas for about Rs 2 crore. Matthew had a twofold goal, which included, raising egg-laying hens in a humane environment, and teaching other farmers to do the same.
Soon he realised that the consumers were ready to pay more for ethically sourced eggs. People were okay with paying
Rs 500 to Rs 840 for a carton of a dozen of Vital Farms eggs. This was a new milestone for the company. Matthew said that this shows how much people care about the food that they eat.
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Another reason why customers chose to buy these eggs was the taste and the flavour. Matthew said, “It’s a fortunate coincidence in laying hens that when you treat them right… it actually turns out that they lay a much better egg.”
Very soon the sales surged and the company landed Whole Foods as its customer. As of now, Vital Farms has expanded to retailers including Walmart, Albertsons, Kroger, and Target. Also, it appears in more than 24,000 stores across the US.
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