J&E Meats
Website audit & strategic planning, custom shopify build & systems design, product, subscription & pre-order configuration, square POST & gift card integration, pick-up, delivery & Shipping setup, content architecture & ux Design, launch strategy & execution + training, documentation and ongoing support.
how we worked together
Website Audit & Strategic Pre-Work
Information Architecture & Content Reorganization
Custom Shopify Website Build
Advanced Product & Pricing Logic Configuration
Subscription (Farm Club) Systems & Workflow Design
Pre-Order & Deposit Management Setup
Square POS & Shopify Integration (Gift Cards)
Pickup, Delivery & Shipping Logic Configuration
Custom Product Templates & Metafield Architecture
Backend Systems, Apps & Integrations
Customer Experience & Conversion Optimization
Launch Planning, Content Creation & On-Site Support
Team Training, SOPs & Post-Launch Support
ABOUT J&E Meats
J&E Meats is a family-run farm-to-table business rooted in transparency, integrity, and doing things the right way—even when it’s harder. Founded by Josh and Emma, J&E Meats isn’t just a meat retailer; it’s a fully hands-on operation where the people selling the food are the same people raising the animals and standing behind every decision made along the way.
From daily animal care to processing and final sale, Josh and Emma oversee the entire journey. Their approach prioritizes ethical, regenerative farming practices that support animal welfare, land health, and flavour—without shortcuts, fillers, or mystery sourcing. What customers receive is exactly what the family feeds their own: naturally raised beef, lamb, and chicken, handled with care and intention from start to finish.
Based in Croton, Ontario, J&E Meats serves families across Chatham-Kent, Lambton, and Essex County and beyond, combining their own farm-raised proteins with a thoughtfully curated farm store. In addition to their core offerings, they proudly support more than 50 small Ontario producers through locally sourced dairy and pantry items—extending their commitment to quality and community well beyond their own farm.
At its core, J&E Meats is built on trust. Their name is on every product for a reason—and that accountability shapes everything they do, from how the animals are raised to how customers experience the brand.
The starting point
When Emma reached out to me, J&E Meats was already an undeniable success story.
What started in their garage had grown—quickly—into a thriving farm-to-table business, driven almost entirely by Emma herself. She is a true powerhouse: building, adapting, solving, and scaling in real time, often with limited tools and even less margin for error. Like many founders in rapid-growth mode, she did what needed to be done to keep things moving.
The website reflected that reality.
Over time, it became layer upon layer of additions—new products, new programs, new information—each added as the business evolved. It wasn’t built as a traditional, strategic website so much as a functional container for information and transactions. It worked… until it didn’t.
From a customer perspective, the online shopping experience had become confusing and unintuitive. The path to purchase was convoluted, creating friction and, in some cases, acting as a barrier to people completing their orders online. On the backend, the challenges were even more pronounced. Manual workarounds were the norm. Orders required frequent follow-up. Customers needed to be re-contacted to clarify, correct, or adjust details. What should have been streamlined workflows were instead consuming valuable time and energy.
Emma was clear and candid about where things stood.
She had built this system to the best of her ability, and it had carried the business to where it was—but it was no longer fit for the scale, complexity, or ambitions of J&E Meats. The business had grown up. The team had grown. The goals had grown. And the systems needed to catch up.
The ask wasn’t just for a new website. It was a call to modernize, to professionalize the customer experience, and to put scalable, efficient backend processes in place—ones that could support a growing team, reduce manual intervention, and create a foundation for what comes next.
This was about giving the business the infrastructure it deserved.
the goal
From the outset, the goal of this project wasn’t visual polish or a surface-level redesign.
In fact, how the website looked was intentionally the last priority.
The real work began with a deep dive into the day-to-day realities of the business—understanding where time was being lost, where systems were breaking down, and where manual work was creating unnecessary friction for both customers and the internal team at J&E Meats. The objective was to identify every operational pain point and design solutions, workflows, and processes that directly addressed those challenges.
Only once those foundations were clear did the website come into focus.
The end goal was a platform that made it easier for customers to shop online—intuitive to navigate, clear in its structure, and genuinely pleasant to use—while still feeling unmistakably personal. Preserving the heart of the business was non-negotiable. This is a local farm, run by Emma and Josh, and the online experience needed to reflect the same care, transparency, and human connection customers experience when they walk into the farm store.
Finding the right balance between efficiency and automation was critical. The systems needed to reduce manual work, eliminate confusion, and support growth—without stripping away the warmth or trust that defines the brand.
Equally important was sustainability after launch. Anything built needed to be practical, understandable, and easy for the team to manage day-to-day. That meant not only thoughtful customization, but also proper support, training, and documentation to ensure Emma and her team felt confident running the site long after it went live.
At the end of the day, if someone lands on the J&E Meats website and simply thinks, “This is a good website,” then the project did its job.
What isn’t immediately visible—and what matters most—is the complexity beneath the surface. Intricate fulfillment rules, subscription logic, custom workflows, operational safeguards, and backend systems are all working quietly together to make the experience feel simple. The goal was never to showcase complexity; it was to hide it.
The true success of this project lies in the fact that customers don’t need to understand how much thought, structure, and problem-solving went into the build. They can shop easily. The team can operate efficiently. And the business can grow—without the systems getting in the way.
BEFORE
AFTER
Before The Build
Before any design or development work began, the focus was on clarity.
The first phase of the project involved a comprehensive audit of the existing J&E Meats website. Every page, product type, program, and piece of content was reviewed in detail, working closely with Emma to determine what information still served the business, what needed to be updated, and what could be archived altogether. The goal wasn’t to carry everything over—it was to be intentional about what deserved to remain.
From there, I curated and reorganized the information that did need to stay into a new, streamlined site structure. This included proposing revised page organization and written content that better reflected where the business is today—not where it started. Messaging was refined to align with the maturity, scale, and confidence of the brand, while still preserving its local, farm-led identity.
Alongside this content and structural work, we spent dedicated time together whiteboarding and talking through the realities of the business. Every pain point, workaround, and frustration was put on the table, along with a clear wishlist for what the website and systems needed to do moving forward. These conversations were critical—they surfaced operational challenges that weren’t obvious from the outside but had a significant impact on day-to-day efficiency.
With that insight, I moved into research and solution design. This meant evaluating platform capabilities, identifying the right apps, and mapping out where custom workflows, integrations, or configurations would be required. Rather than forcing the business to fit into rigid tools, the goal was to build tailored solutions that addressed real operational needs and eliminated as many manual workarounds as possible.
Only once this strategic groundwork was complete did the actual website build begin.
The Website Build: Systems First, Website Second
Roughly 80% of this project happened behind the scenes.
While the end result is a clean, intuitive website, the reality is that J&E Meats is not a traditional e-commerce business — and treating it like one would have created more problems than it solved. Many of the products, programs, and workflows that power the business don’t fit neatly into standard Shopify assumptions. As a result, this build required extensive systems design, custom logic, and operational problem-solving long before visual decisions were finalized.
Why This Wasn’t a Standard Shopify Build
Most Shopify stores sell fixed-price products with predictable fulfillment. J&E Meats operates in a much more complex reality. Products vary by weight, pricing can’t always be finalized at checkout, fulfillment timelines differ by product type, and customer relationships often extend across subscriptions, pre-orders, and in-store interactions.
The goal of the build was to make all of that complexity invisible to the customer — while ensuring the backend worked cleanly and efficiently for the team.
Custom Product Logic & Pre-Orders
One of the most complex challenges involved pre-orders.
Many pre-order items require a deposit at checkout, but the final price isn’t known until the product is ready because pricing is based on weight. For example, a customer may place a $20 deposit on a tomahawk steak, but the final balance can’t be determined until it’s cut and weighed.
The solution needed to:
Clearly communicate approximate pricing without misleading customers
Collect a deposit upfront
Allow the final price to be adjusted manually
Charge the remaining balance automatically using the same payment method
Achieving this required highly specific app configuration, custom language overrides throughout the site, and backend workflows that allowed the team to finalize pricing confidently — without creating confusion or follow-up questions for customers. The result is a pre-order experience that feels straightforward on the surface, while handling significant complexity behind the scenes.
Product Page Architecture & Metafield Strategy
Because of the variety of product types offered, a single product template simply wouldn’t work.
Rather than forcing everything into a one-size-fits-all structure, seven distinct product page templates were custom built — each designed to support different information requirements. Some products needed only basic descriptions and pricing, while others required detailed explanations, disclaimers, FAQs, benefits, or subscription-specific content.
To support this flexibility, 38 custom metafields were created and strategically assigned across product types. These metafields allow the right information to appear on the right products — without cluttering pages or overwhelming the team.
To make this manageable long-term, a clear internal matrix was created outlining:
Which product page type to use
Which metafields apply to each page
What information is actually required
This ensured the system remained powerful without becoming burdensome to maintain.
Backend Apps, Customization & Integrations
In total, 15 apps were added to the site — and they all needed customization and configuration.
Each app was carefully selected, configured, and integrated into the broader system to support specific operational needs. This included custom filtering and search functionality, allowing products to be filtered by criteria that actually make sense for meat products — not standard e-commerce attributes like size or colour.
The focus throughout was on cohesion. Apps were not added as isolated tools, but as interconnected systems designed to reduce manual work, eliminate confusion, and create consistency across the customer and staff experience.
Square POS & Gift Card Unification
A major consideration for this project was that J&E Meats would continue using Square for in-store POS while launching a new Shopify website.
This created a significant challenge around gift cards. Customers already held Square-issued gift cards, and moving forward, gift cards needed to work seamlessly across both platforms — regardless of where they were purchased.
To solve this, a centralized gift card system was implemented and configured to:
Migrate existing Square gift card balances to Shopify
Allow new gift cards purchased online to work in-store
Allow gift cards purchased in-store to work online
The result is a unified gift card experience with no stranded balances, no customer confusion, and no manual workarounds for the team.
Farm Club: Subscription Logic Built for Real Life
The Farm Club subscription program was another area where standard tools fell short.
Previously, members had varying billing dates, which led to confusion, double billing, refunds, and time-consuming customer communication. One of Emma’s key goals was to move all members to a single, predictable billing cycle while ensuring new signups were handled fairly and automatically.
This required custom subscription logic that:
Billed all members on a unified monthly date
Recognized late signups and prevented double charges
Allowed customers to pause, skip, or manage their subscription through a self-serve portal
Equally important was preserving the highly personalized nature of Farm Club. Instead of relying on manual texts to gather monthly preferences, a fully automated customization workflow was built. A flexible Google Form is now triggered via the subscription charge confirmation email — ensuring only active, billed members are prompted to submit their wishlist.
Responses are centralized, accessible to the full team, and easy to reference when building orders. No more screenshots. No more missed messages. The process is automated, scalable, and still deeply personal.
Pickup, Delivery & Shipping
J&E Meats does not operate on a traditional shipping model. With the exception of Camden Tallow, products are not shipped via standard carriers. Instead, customers must choose between local pickup at the farm store or local delivery—each with specific conditions and constraints.
To support this, custom pickup, delivery, and shipping logic was configured to reflect how the business actually operates:
Local pickup is available to all customers, regardless of cart contents or order value.
Local delivery is available only within a defined geographic radius (100 km from the farm).
A minimum order threshold of $75 (before tax) is required to unlock local delivery.
Once that threshold is met, local delivery becomes available for a $30 delivery fee.
Orders of $150 or more (before tax) automatically unlock free local delivery, still restricted to the 100 km radius.
Standard shipping is available only when a cart contains exclusively Camden Tallow products.
These rules required careful configuration to ensure customers were only presented with valid fulfillment options based on:
Cart contents
Order value
Delivery address
The goal was to eliminate confusion at checkout while preventing scenarios where customers could select fulfillment options that couldn’t realistically be fulfilled. All of this logic works quietly in the background—guiding customers toward the right option without forcing them to understand the rules behind it.
For the team, this means fewer follow-up messages, fewer corrections, and far less manual intervention. For customers, it means a checkout experience that simply makes sense.
Camden Tallow: A Brand Within a Brand
Camden Tallow is Emma’s skincare line—and while it lives within the J&E Meats ecosystem, it needed to feel like something distinct.
Rather than treating Camden Tallow as just another product category, the goal was to give it its own identity and shopping experience—without separating it from the main site or introducing unnecessary friction for customers.
To achieve this, a fully custom page experience was built within Shopify specifically for Camden Tallow. This section uses a different colour palette, layout, and visual tone to subtly signal a brand shift while still feeling cohesive with the broader J&E Meats site. When customers land on Camden Tallow products, the experience feels intentional and elevated—closer to a boutique skincare brand than a farm store add-on.
The result is a seamless brand-within-a-brand experience: Camden Tallow has its own personality, its own flow, and its own fulfillment rules—while still benefiting from the traffic, trust, and infrastructure of the main J&E Meats website.
The Website Experience
Once all of the backend systems, logic, and workflows were in place, the focus shifted to the customer-facing experience.
The goal was to create a website that felt polished and professional—while still being unmistakably J&E Meats.
From the moment someone lands on the site, the experience is designed to build trust. A striking drone shot of the farm immediately signals credibility and scale, but that slick visual is quickly grounded by a simple, human message: this is us—Emma and Josh. The farmers. The butchers. The people behind the food. That balance was intentional. The site needed to feel like the real deal, without ever feeling corporate or anonymous.
From there, the site was built to be intuitive and easy to navigate. Clear menus, thoughtful page structure, and concise copy guide visitors through the story of J&E Meats—from how the animals are raised, to what makes their meat different, to how the business has grown. Existing content that mattered to Emma wasn’t lost; it was reorganized and refined into pages that are visually cohesive, purposeful, and easy to digest.
An FAQ section was also introduced to proactively address common questions and reduce friction before it reaches the inbox. This page was designed to be a living resource—one that can evolve as new questions come up and the business continues to grow.
Throughout the site, a stronger emphasis was placed on online shopping. While the original website was information-heavy, it didn’t adequately support the way customers wanted to buy. The new site prioritizes clear paths to shopping, browsing, and purchasing—without sacrificing the depth of information that builds confidence and trust.
Just as importantly, the farm store itself remains central to the experience. This is where the products live. It’s where the team works. It’s where the animals are raised. The website was intentionally designed to position the online store as an extension of that physical place—not a replacement for it. Every touchpoint reinforces the idea that whether customers are shopping online or visiting in person, they are part of the same J&E Meats community.
The end result is a website that feels approachable, credible, and easy to use—one that reflects the heart of the business while finally giving customers the seamless online experience they expect.
The Launch
Emma has always been deeply involved in her own marketing and social media—and that hands-on approach is a big part of what makes J&E Meats feel so personal and real. Going into launch, she knew she wanted support not to take over that voice, but to help bring everything together into a cohesive, intentional rollout—and to capture the story visually in a way that felt true to her and the brand.
We worked collaboratively to develop a streamlined launch plan that balanced structure with flexibility. This included outlining key communications, identifying flagship video content for social media, and mapping out how the website would be introduced to both existing customers and new audiences.
Rather than taking a highly prescriptive approach to filming, we leaned into Emma’s natural strengths. We booked a full day together and used that time to review the site in detail, make final refinements, test key workflows, and then create content organically. Scripts were written together, footage was filmed on site, and photography was captured—all with the goal of showcasing Emma as the face of the brand in a way that felt confident, unscripted, and authentic.
In total, we created content for three short-form launch videos, along with supporting visuals to be used across channels. These assets formed the backbone of the launch and gave Emma content she could continue to use beyond day one.
The launch itself was intentionally anchored to a meaningful moment: Emma’s birthday on January 13. That date became a firm deadline—one that brought focus and momentum to the final stretch of the project. A teaser email was sent to the list on January 12, setting the stage for what was coming and linking to a personal launch message from Emma. The email also included a limited-time ground beef offer, designed to encourage customers to explore the new site and put early orders through the system.
Just as importantly, the launch messaging emphasized why the new website mattered. Customers were invited not just to shop, but to explore, click around, and share feedback. The tone was open and collaborative—positioning the site as something built for the community, and something that would continue to evolve with their input.
From the moment the teaser went out, I monitored incoming messages and feedback closely, remaining available through launch day and beyond. On January 13, I was on site to support Emma and her team in real time—answering questions, troubleshooting if needed, and walking them through next steps for order fulfillment and backend workflows.
The result was a launch that felt celebratory, grounded, and aligned with the brand. Not rushed. Not overly polished. Just intentional, well-supported, and ready to grow.
Backend Support, Training & Documentation
A key part of this project was ensuring the site could be confidently managed long after launch.
Rather than relying on ad-hoc explanations or one-off training, I created a structured support system for the J&E Meats team. For every critical workflow and repeatable process, I developed both a visual and written resource—recording more than 15 custom training videos that walk through how to use, update, and manage the site day-to-day.
These Loom-style tutorials are paired with clear, step-by-step written guides, creating a comprehensive SOP library that covers:
End-to-end order fulfillment workflows
Product setup and editing
Subscription and Farm Club management
Pre-orders and deposits
Pickup, delivery, and shipping processes
Common troubleshooting scenarios
This documentation lives as an internal reference library, allowing any team member to access guidance when they need it—without relying on memory, screenshots, or one person holding all the knowledge.
The result is a system that supports consistency, reduces training time, and gives the team confidence to operate independently, while still knowing support is available when needed.
Final Thoughts
This project was special for me in ways that went far beyond the scope of work.
If you know Emma from J&E Meats, you know she’s a force. She’s collaborative, positive, smart, driven—and deeply confident in who she is and what she’s building. One moment that has stayed with me since the very beginning came from her application to work together. She wrote something along the lines of, “I don’t want to toot my own horn,” then immediately followed it with, “Actually—scratch that. I do.” That clarity and self-assurance set the tone for everything that followed.
Yes, this was a project. It was a working agreement. But what came out of it was something I’m genuinely grateful for.
Working alongside Emma was a reminder of how powerful it is to show up confidently and unapologetically. It reinforced the value I’ve always known I bring to my clients, and it highlighted just how enjoyable and rewarding work can be when both sides are able to be fully themselves. There was trust, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to doing the work properly—not just quickly.
This project also gave me the rare opportunity to fully sink my teeth into complex problem-solving. I had the runway and bandwidth to use my brain the way I love to—thinking strategically, designing systems, and building solutions that genuinely support how a business operates in the real world. It was the kind of work that plays directly to my strengths, and that doesn’t happen by accident.
Ultimately, this was a perfect alignment: meaningful work, thoughtful collaboration, and a client who both inspired and challenged me in the best possible way. The result wasn’t just a well-executed website—it was the foundation of a personal and professional relationship that will continue to grow, evolve, and do incredible things.
And that, to me, is always the real win.
Have questions?
If you have questions or you’re interested in learning more about how we can work together, feel free to contact me.
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