Daily Inspiration: Meet Dean and Jayne Bredlau

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dean and Jayne Bredlau.

Hi Dean and Jayne, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
What started as a summer gardening experience in 2016 has turned into a multi-enterprise farm business. In the summer of 2016, Dean planted garden veggies on land at a friend’s farm. Sandy soil, hot and dry summer weather gave him a good deal of gardening work, but not one thing to eat. Seems the gophers were happy, though. Dean learned two things: he liked the planting and nurturing process of growing things and he had a lot to learn.

With the short Minnesota growing season, we started researching season extension ideas. Microgreens were becoming a thing, across the nation. We didn’t know what they were, or why anyone would grow them, or eat them for that matter. We purchased potting soil, growing flats and some seeds. Dean planted the flats, and Jayne researched nutrition information. Sure enough, the seeds germinated and grew! We learned microgreens were highly nutritious, pretty and packed a powerful flavor punch. After two weeks, we hand-cut the microgreens into little plastic containers, which amounted to a mere couple of handfuls, and shared them with whomever we could get to eat them. Dean kept researching seeds, seed mixes and planting techniques. There is some pretty weird microgreen growing ideas out there. We grew a few more trials, cut them into little sandwich bags, sharing them with chefs at local restaurants. They were great resources of info, and no doubt knew we were in way over our heads.

We picked the business name, My Sweet Greens MN, registered as a dba and made up some marketing materials. in 2017 we had a booth at a local vendor event. We handed out lots of samples, and sold a few containers. We vended at a larger event at the end of the year which was even more exciting. In March of 2018, we were invited to sell at a small, local indoor farmers market. We brought microgreens all packaged up with cute labels, and some fresh over-wintered spinach we’d grown in a high tunnel outside. At an indoor farmers market during a very snowy March, we sold every little green leaf we had. We were beyond thrilled. So we went again in April and sold it all.

On the wings of so much success (tongue in cheek) Jayne signed up for 4 different summer farmers markets. This was crazy because we were both working full time jobs. We were producing around 50-60 clamshells per week. We had one restaurant account, who took a pound of mixed microgreens every week.

After a busy summer we decided retail stores were our next target. Our most successful farmers market was in Northfield. The city has a thriving co-op so we approached the produce manager with our 4 varieties of microgreens. We are still on their shelves today. They sell roughly 50 clamshells weekly, and we have a wonderful partnership with them. Another co-op in Winona picked up our products and soon we began visiting grocery stores with samples. One by one we were in several area Hy-Vee stores. We were hand planting, tending, harvesting, packaging every unit, and doing all of the deliveries. We did store demonstrations, several per week, to introduce microgreens, and ourselves, to customers. We’ve never worked harder!

Jayne left her job in August of 2018. We were faced with a decision: Either keep pushing to grow and sell more microgreens, increase and expand business or this was going to be a hobby we probably would be tired of sooner than later.

2019 we headed to Twin Cities. Having had good success with Hy-Vee stores, we started visiting various locations. Lakeville, Eagan, Plymouth, New Hope, Maple Grove, and others were happy to give us a go. Dean continued to work full time, so Jayne did the deliveries and store demos every week. By the end of 2019, we were selling at farmers markets in Rochester, Faribault and Northfield, while supplying 15 grocery and co-op stores, and three restaurants.

At the end of 2019, we received a cease and desist notice from a large, (LARGE!) multi-billion dollar restaurant chain, called sweetgreen. They demanded we stop using our name, My Sweet Greens MN immediately and transition to something without the words sweet+green right next to each other. They have the registered trademark for sweetgreen and felt our social media and online URLs would somehow confuse their target customers. The idea that a tiny little tiny just-starting farm business who only grows microgreens and sells locally could be such a threat seemed more than ridiculous. But they have the clout, the money and registered name. We worked with an attorney to hammer out an agreement allowing us to have until Nov. of 2020 to transition. We’d just gotten our feet wet in business and had to do a complete 360.

After a lot of searching and deliberation, we settled on the name The Greensted (meaning Green + Place) and registered it as an LLC. The searches were done legally, the documents filed appropriately. The Greensted IS a registered trademark. No one will take our name away again. And honestly, it’s a much better, broader name which will serve our business well for years to come.

With a shiny new name, we entered 2020 with many hopes and ambitions. No one pads hope with a global crisis. In spite of shutdowns and much confusion, we decided since we were producing a farm-fresh produce item, and grocery stores were the only things open, we were not stopping. Full speed ahead with our business plans to continue and grow the microgreens market, and open the door to vegetable garden production. We hired our first employee in January, She chose to continue working with us rather than take the “easy” money. In April, we hired one more full time employee primarily to work with the garden production we’d planned for that year. The summer farmers markets were busy, the garden was jamming with veggies, the microgreens were continuing to sell. It was a very challenging but good year for us. And the name change? Went off without a hitch. In fact, the local news stories highlighting the “big guy knocks down the little guy” theme, worked in our favor. Lots of people supported us because of the stories.

In the fall of 2020 it was obvious we had serious physical space limitations. A local contractor confirmed we couldn’t build onto our home site but he had another option. He had plans to build a huge “shouse” just 5 minutes across town. He was willing to add on a spot for our “green things,” and build it to suit, with the right temperature/humidity control, water access, and space for our long growing racks. We’d rent the space, and pay the build-out loan. Really, a deal we couldn’t refuse.

The building plans came together to have a microgreens grow space, workroom, farm store and an acre of land to garden. Dreams do come to life, even if you haven’t yet dreamed them. Clogged supply chains slowed progress, the our builder kept pressing on.

In November of 2020, we approached Lunds & Byerlys with our microgreens. We met with the produce director who loved our story and products. Mid-December we sent our first large order of microgreens out the door – 30 cases (720 20z clams) worth — to the Lunds & Byerly’s distribution center. They made it a stocked item in every store. The was a huge financial boon to us and the break we needed to scale up business.

March of 2021 we moved into our new facility. The microgreens grow space is beautiful, the workroom is amazing.

We planted the gardens in June, and our little farm store opened in July. The store now offers nearly 200 products from 50 local/area producers. Eggs, dairy products, peanut butter, meats of all kinds, pantry items, coffees, teas, granola, crackers, chips, GF vegan cookies, maple syrup, honey and personal care products like lotion bars, lip balms and skin lotions. We have a limited supply of household cleaning products, and some art pieces from a local artist. Something for everyone.

Vegetable gardening was quite challenging last season, but we produced many pounds of beautiful vegetables. Our garden and microgreens labor force became six high school students one college student and a couple of adult part timers. They all worked so hard! We finished the season strong, and with lots of lessons learned about farming inside and out in our new location. The best part of the season was Dean was able to leave his off-farm job in June and join us full time.

As the students all went back to school, we hired two additional full time help, one part time, and we retained one high school student on Saturdays. It’s amazing how much gets done with a few good hands to help. We launched a new product to the market, Just Broccoli microgreens – this is an option for customers in the even their store is out of broccoli sprouts, which is often the case.

2022 has started with resizing our packaging down to 1.3 oz, from 2 oz. Customer shopping trends show consumers shop smaller and shop more often. Changing our product size was a complex process involving not just buying smaller packaging, but getting new barcodes, redesigning labels, resizing cases, and communications to all our accounts!

In the space of five years, The Greensted regenerative project has gone from a curiousity to a multi-enterprise farm business. No one is more surprised than us. Our mission is sustainable food production and regenerative land management. Our heart is community connection. Our vision is to bring our best and all of the very best in regional foods and products to consumers.. With global confusion, fears and concerns happening, now is the time for communities to hold strong, support all local business, and eat healthy, nutritionally packed foods. At The Greensted we offer:

~Year round production of 15 varieties of microgreens, available in 6 core products; sold at our Farm Store, and 45 area stores. In 2021 we produced over 10,332 lbs, 67,700 clamshell units sold.
~Garden vegetables – CSA membership program and purchase onsite at the Farm Store 2022 Shares available here
~Farm Store offering many regional products – online shopping for store pick up available Farmstore Shop here
~Educational opportunities in the form of community education classes, high school student project-based learning, college internships
~Online Farmers Market called The Greensted Reko – online shopping of many local vendors, with pick up twice monthly at the farm store. Shop here
~Employment opportunities
~Agri-tourism – we offer small group tours and learning sessions. Perfect for horticulture clubs, community clubs, small groups looking for a fun outing.

We love visitors so plan a little trip to Zumbrota. We have a thriving downtown business district, great local restaurants and the cutest little Farm Store just up the hill. We’ll give you the microgreens tour and send you on your way with tasty local foods. #seeyousoon

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some smooth, some not. Getting started growing microgreens, then growing on a production scale – soil inconsistencies are a major trial; educating customers on microgreens, approaching new accounts, major name change from My Sweet Greens MN to The Greensted (2020). Moving to a brand new facility and figuring out how it “works” for us. (2021). Attracting/recruiting new employees, employee turnover, training employees while keeping production on schedule. Vegetable gardening – land management, weed and pest controls, weather fluctuations. Navigating the business channels needed to own and operate a business. Making our business viable and visible in a small community. With any small business, these hurdles are the norm. We’re grateful for the many people who have helped, instructed and encouraged us through the processes.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Dean: grew up on a family dairy farm and has always loved farming. He graduated college with a microbiology degree and has worked in food quality/food safety field ever since. He was a QA technician at an area food packer for 13+ years. He has multiple certifications in the food packaging industry which is invaluable in our business now. Fun fact, he was a Schwan’s Route Driver for a short time, not only servicing the route he was hired for, but developed two more routes. He has no problem selling microgreens!

Jayne: was a full time mom to four kids for many years before returning to the workforce. It’s surprising how much raising kids teaches a person about business and life. She worked as a part-time administrative assistant to the Publisher at the local newspaper; expanded the role to add assistant to human resources, moved into a coordinator position for newspaper special sections, then coordinator for ad executives for print advertising; eventually was recruited into the digital advertising arm of the business to develop and grow the role of online ad production coordinator. She was recruited to a large hotel portfolio for the position of Convention Services Manager – planning large conventions (food, AV, guestrooms, etc). This required on-the-job learning with minimal instruction and learning resources. Coordinating multiple departments to make a successful convention outcome. My experience in human resources, marketing and advertising, coordinating multiple tasks and projects, hosting small and large groups all play into the role of a business owner now.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Dean: milking cows. He loved working as part of their family (he and 5 siblings) farm; he still loves cows. He liked the hard work, the rhythm of the seasons, learning each cow’s personality.

Jayne: school supply shopping. LOVED all the colors of papers and writing things, folders, getting organized, filling out a planner. Suits a businesswoman well.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.thegreensted.com
• Instagram: thegreensted
• Facebook: thegreensted
• Twitter: thegreensted
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWq4-4Q8mTA&t=17s