It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Wisconsinites love their meat and cheese, especially if it’s from a local business. Add in the combination of a unique product offering and multi-pronged marketing approach, and you get Union Grove-based
Two Creek Farms LLC, a fast-growing company specializing in premium meats and cheeses.
Justin Miklaszewski, founder of Two Creek Farms, is only 22 years old but has run his business for six years while also earning a degree in general business and finance from UW-Whitewater. He grew up around animals while living at his family home, and farming has always been a part of his life through programs like 4-H.
In 2016, Miklaszewski and his family took two pigs to the Wisconsin State Fair in the hopes of selling them at the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction. However, the pigs did not end up qualifying. To seek potential buyers, he made a Facebook post to gauge interest.
“Within about an hour, I had over 250 comments on that post. That kind of was the start of (Two Creek Farms),” Miklaszewski said.
The next year, he raised a few extra pigs to sell. This process continued over the next several years, with Miklaszewski continually increasing the number of pigs and adding new animals, like steers. He also started attending the Racine County Farmers Market to broaden his audience.
“We had some customers come up to us one day and ask if we sold beef sticks or jerky or summer sausage. Right there, it kind of clicked in my head,” Miklaszewski said.
From there, Two Creek Farms continued to grow as customers sought out products ranging from chicken and steak to brats. Miklaszewski began purchasing even larger volumes of animals to keep up with demand. Those animals are raised on a property in Franksville.
Two Creek Farms works with Rio, Wisconsin-based processing company Johnson’s Sausage Shoppe to create recipes and make its line of approximately 250 products – including unique finds like cherry brats and Bloody Mary beef sticks – all sold at its brick-and-mortar location at 1360 15th Ave. in Union Grove.
The company’s workforce ranges from five to more than 20, depending on the time of the year. Summer is Two Creek Farms’ busiest season as farmers markets wind up for the year.
“Basically, anything you would get at a meat market we now physically do,” Miklaszewski said. “It took off.”
Since its founding in 2016, Two Creek Farms has seen more than 300% growth, he said, attributing some of that growth to the decision to join an online farmers market, called Market Wagon, in 2019. This broadened the company’s reach to 18 counties in Wisconsin and Illinois and provided a constant flow of sales.
“… It was more of a safety net at first, and then it kind of kept growing and growing,” Miklaszewski said.
He wants to take advantage of the company’s continued growth and is working to identify a second storefront for Two Creek Farms. Whitefish Bay and Oak Creek are being considered as options for a new store, which could potentially open at the start of next year.
“For me, it’s always 100% about trying to promote and get the word out to different peo
ple,” Miklaszewski said.
Two Creek Farms LLC
Leadership: Justin Miklaszewski, founder
Headquarters: Union Grove
What it does: Sells meat and cheese products
Founded: 2016
Employees: Ranges from five to 20-plus
Next goals: Open a second brick-and-mortar location
Funding: $10,000 grant from the Village of Union Grove
