Progress Report: 6.17.22

Grasshopper Family,

This week we start in what we all know as the UP....the Michigan Upper Peninsula. Adam spent the week meeting with potential retail partners in the UP. We waited purposely until now because of the supply swings and the distance. To give you an idea, it is about three hours to the UP bridge and then another 5 hours to get across. Adam and Kayla did a great job of developing a routing and off he went. Adam landed several deals and has a few more that will most likely confirm next week. I asked Adam to send some pictures of the beauty and I have included them in this email...even a picture of everyone needing an escort to get back across the bridge.

Our neighbors are important to us. And Bret's dad is one of our neighbors. Bret helped his dad with some things at his farm and Bret got a few pictures to share.

We move back to the farm where the plants are looking beautiful. They are happy. They are healthy. The second pump house is getting close to completion. The massive tanks were set today! Moving and setting tanks of that size takes planning, precision, and teamwork - things our team holds as foundational and are constantly employing.

Paul has been taking daily pictures of Plant 1 of the 2022 season...we should have an incredible montage at the end of the season!

We finally had to move away from paying for rentals and services to beat back the weeds and grass and brought that in-house. This single mower is the perfect fit for the job...and Jason immediately broke it in.

Inside we see more healthy happy plants and systems that are dialed in and are working great. The team is very proud of the work it took to clean up after the final plants went outside and then organizing the plants that are staying inside. Check out the irrigation system!

I was talking to my brother the other day and he asked about how often I am highlighting how much we clean. I responded with a "YES!" Cleanliness is critical for our farm. And, while we are a working farm, we need to treat all of our indoor operational areas with great care to ensure we keep our plants healthy and clean for consumption. It is absolutely critical.

We had a number of orders come in this week...more than 400 pounds! Von and Caroline have been crushing fulfillment. Von has the inventory room very organized! Check out the pictures!

Our excavation partner, Steve, did some site work this week to improve drainage and the areas where we drive. His heavy equipment is massive. Loud. Powerful. Yet, Steve still spotted a small mama bird and her nest and set up some markers to allow her to stay with her eggs until they hatch and the babies are ready to depart before doing additional site work there.

Steve is embracing the same philosophy we hold dearly at Grasshopper Farms. We work with purpose. We are efficient. But nothing is too fast, furious, or important for us to not notice when we need to slow down and make an adjustment.

Another highlight from this week was some feedback we received.

First, we had more business partners visit the farm and they were blown away. When asked if they had any ideas for us they said absolutely not. We are always ready for feedback. But we will never tire of hearing that we are setting an example.

More highlights. Totally unsolicited. Totally random. Several consumers got a hold of people who know us. All separate individual conversations. They shared that they were incredibly impressed with our flower. They raved about it. Well, that feedback made it back to us. It felt good for so many reasons. Unsolicited feedback and reviews are powerful. It not only tells you about your product, but also about the increased awareness of our brand. Like I have said before, building a brand is hard. The hardest part of building a brand might be having patience. We know how awesome our product is! We know how awesome our team is! We know how awesome our story is!

But we have to be patient. We have to wait for our sales and marketing efforts to share our story and product with the Michigan market.

Patience is truly a virtue.

The hard work is paying off. People are hearing the story. People are loving the product.

Grasshopper Farms is making a difference.

I am eternally grateful for all of your support and positive energy.

Have a fantastic weekend!