Diestel Family Ranch, based in Sonora, Calif., spans several generations, and the company’s products are distributed nationally via their online store as well as other direct-to-consumer businesses. Diestel’s offers its regeneratively raised turkeys seasonally for the holidays, with national distribution through Whole Foods Market. The company’s product line can be found at traditional retail grocery channels and foodservice channels like True Food Kitchen or regional foodservice operators like ROAM Burger, which highlights the Diestel brand on its menus.   

“When our Grandpa Jack officially founded the Diestel Family Turkey Ranch in 1949, he and his Uncle Ernest knew that grit, passion and patience were what it took to raise the highest quality turkeys,” said Heidi Diestel, part of the company’s current leadership team. “They valued time as an essential ingredient at the ranch: to read the seasons, understand the rhythms of nature, and allow our birds time and space to mature and roam naturally. Our parents, Tim and Joan, brought these values forward and modernized our family business with organic leadership, first to organic, first to non-GMO, and achieving highest accolades in animal husbandry practices.”

Those family values prioritizing animal welfare and sustainable production guide Heidi and her husband Jared and brother Jason as they operate the business today, embracing practices such as slowly growing their own breeds of birds, daily milling 100% vegetarian feed and practicing regenerative agriculture.

“We operate under the strictest animal welfare and environmental standards, develop the most flavorful and nutritious methods for food production, and take care of our team and community,” Heidi said. “As one of the few, small family-owned and operated ranches left in the nation, we have the freedom to continue to do things the right way.”

Diestel’s products are free of antibiotics, fillers, growth promotants, nitrates or nitrites, Heidi said.

The company secured its first load of ‘Certified Regenified’ feed last year, a big milestone in Diestel’s regenerative program.  The Regenified's seal is the first third-party regenerative program to be recognized and accepted by US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service for single and multi-ingredient products.

“We like to say that sustainability isn’t just something we talk about at Diestel, but it is something that we do,” Heidi said. “From our composting program, chemical-free farms and water reclamation to our efforts in regenerative agriculture, we are ensuring that ‘sustainable’ farming is at the core of our daily chores.”  

Diestel Family Ranch raises the majority of its birds in Northern California but also works with a some farmers in the Midwest. Likewise, the company owns and operates much of its own processing operations while also partnering with a handful of other processors, Heidi said.

Diestel Family Ranch’s production centers on animal husbandry. From the daily walks through the flocks, to freshly milled feed, Diestel Family Ranch pays close attention to the welfare of its birds, she said, maximizing the overall health of their flocks while also improving the end product.

New products and promotions

Diestel Family Ranch’s recent product innovations include a handful of new value-added items, including fully cooked turkey meatloaf and turkey carnitas.

“We launched the first-ever non-GMO Project Primal Blend that is a delicious mixture of ground turkey with heart and liver for added nutritional value,” Heidi said. “The product received a NEXTY award. In the coming months we are planning to launch a ‘thick sliced’ regenerative deli meat product that we think will bring significant innovation to the deli category.”

In addition to having consistent temporary price reductions or flash sales to entice buyers to Diestel products, on-package messaging is a key consumer engagement opportunity.

“Supporting ‘trial and repurchase’ is always something a brand needs to prioritize,” Heidi said. “Instead of listing out everything that isn’t in our products -- which is how most of our industry goes to market - we took our main label real estate and decided to educate the shopper about the benefits of ground turkey, calling out that it is high in protein, listing out the grams of protein per serving and how that compares to beef and chicken. We help shoppers answer ‘why turkey?’ then we introduce them to the Diestel Brand.”