Letting consumers 'subscribe' for their eggs with Sarah Sivyer

Humans of Agriculture

To describe Sarah Sivyer as worldly and business savvy would be absolutely under-selling her. Sarah describes herself as a ‘serious data nerd’ and a ‘serious business model nerd’. After sitting down with her to record the podcast, we believe it and love it!

“I'm going to sound a bit wacky, I just love excellent businesses.”

Sarah has some incredible experiences and habits that have led to this appetite for continual growth and data-driven success. Just to name a few:

• Combined Chemical Engineering and Commerce degree from Sydney University
• Four years being mentored at College following High School - there’s people from these formative years who are still having an impact on Sarah’s life
• Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Oxford University in London
• Work on the mines for BHP in continual business improvement projects in Western Australia
• Work for Syngenta in Switzerland in food security
• Nuffield Scholarship in 2018
• Avid podcast listener - “How I Built This” with Guy Raz is one of her favourites!

As life would have it, it’s of course never quite that linear progression. Now back on the family farm, Sarah chose to generate impact in her own way that wasn't the traditional dairy farm she had always known... She instead developed a subscription model for pastuerised eggs that has social impact.

There’s so much more to Sarah’s story, from raising a toddler while running the business, marketing strategies and her most recent endeavours in agritourism.
Sarah's story is part of our partnership with the Nuffield Australia - Nuffield Scholar program - Where we are shining a light on some of the incredible stories of some of their scholars.

A message from this episode sponsor, ANZ Agribusiness:

Farming in Australia is never without opportunity, nor challenge. From season to season, and from day to day, producers manage a myriad of risks and rewards as they produce the vast range of commodities global markets now demand. At ANZ Agribusiness, we’ve been supporting farmers to take opportunities and manage through challenges for over 150 years. We’re a proud and long term partner of Nuffield Australia, supporting its goal of capacity building for producers, their businesses, industry and rural community. Our network of regionally based Agribusiness bankers are ready to support both our existing customers, and any farming business seeking a review of their banking arrangements at any time. Find your local ANZ Agribusiness manager at ANZ.com.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

06:14 Growing Up in a Farming Family

16:00 Studying for an MBA and Networking

29:58 From Ginger Beer to Egg Subscriptions

44:16 Competing with Excellence and Building Customer Relationships