Distribution and channels: why routing everything through the CSA hurts
The CSA subscription is one channel — not the whole operation. The research is surprisingly clear: profitability falls when everything routes through the CSA itself. The logical model is multi-channel.
The counter-intuitive finding
One of the most useful conclusions from CSA research: CSA profitability is negatively associated with the share of total sales going through the CSA itself — and parallel market channels do not hurt member retention.[1]
In other words, the CSA box should be one leg of a three-legged stool, not the whole base of the business. This is not a compromise of the model — it is what the data rewards. The member retention article covers why parallel channels don't undermine loyalty; this article is about what the channels are.
The principle: volume products and margin products travel different roads
The Eight SKUs article establishes a structural split that dictates all distribution logic: volume products (jam, syrups) are the cash engine, sold weekly at retail through Bulgaria's developed short-supply-chain ecosystem; margin products (dried, pestil, flour) carry 5–7× the per-kg margin and are found through CSA shares, curated online stores, and farmers'-market tastings — not supermarkets.
No single channel serves both types well. Distribution is therefore a portfolio.
The channels
Farmers' markets and cooperative networks
The Bulgarian short-supply-chain ecosystem is developed. Хранкооп runs farmers' markets in Sofia (Римската стена, Иван Вазов, Драгалевци, Княжево, Владая), in Добрич and on the Бургас sea promenade.[2] This is the natural home for volume products — with a caveat: selling at a Хранкооп market with a cooperative margin (~10%) gives a different effective price than the retail price in the canonical figures.
Farmhopping and farm-to-consumer platforms
Farmhopping connects Bulgarian farms with urban consumers.[3] Platforms of this kind are a natural channel for both CSA shares and margin products — they reach exactly the consumer who wants provenance and story, not lowest price.
Direct channels for margin products
Pestil, flour and dried raspberries belong to direct channels — CSA share, curated online store, tastings. The Eight SKUs logic is that one pestil customer is worth 16 jam customers in margin terms — so these products deserve the highest-contact, least-intermediated channels.
An online shop — with a hidden regulatory step
An online shop is an obvious channel for margin products. But the 2020 Food Act introduced mandatory registration for distance selling of food.[4] The online channel is not "just a website" — it is a registered activity. The BFSA registration article covers this in detail.
Shops, organic stores, pharmacies — the "healing syrup" channel
The healing syrup's wellness positioning opens doors to organic shops, pharmacies and gift baskets (see the Eight SKUs). But the same registration article carries the warning: Bulgarian law forbids attributing curative properties to a food — positioning must stay inside that line.
The logistics the model already costs
Distribution is not free, and the model knows it. The income statement includes distribution OpEx — fuel and consumables, driver and distributor wages — computed over trips and intercity/urban kilometres. Every new channel adds trips, kilometres and hours. Multi-channel is the right strategy, but it is not free — each channel must earn more than it costs to serve.
CSA research adds one more logistics note: pick-up points significantly reduce transport costs, and partnering with local couriers can carry delivery.[5] For a shelf-stable operation this is easier than for a perishable vegetable box — jars don't spoil waiting a day at a pick-up point.
What this means for the model
- The CSA is one channel, not the base — profitability falls when everything routes through it.
- Volume and margin products travel different roads — jam and syrups through markets and cooperative networks; pestil, flour and dried through high-contact direct channels.
- Each channel carries a regulatory and logistics step — online selling requires distance-selling registration; each new trip adds real cost in the income statement. Multi-channel wins — but it is planned channel by channel, not assumed.