This episode was recorded live on stage at the 2025 Old Salt Festival in Helmville, Montana, where I had the honor of sitting down with two of the people at the center of this ambitious experiment in food, land, and community: Cole Mannix who is the President and co-founder of the Old Salt Co-op and Andrew Anderson who is the manager of the J Bar L Ranch.

If you’ve been following Old Salt, you know it’s much more than a beef company. It’s a bold attempt to rethink how ranching families, local communities, restaurants, and consumers can work together to create a food system that’s resilient, regenerative, and deeply rooted in place. What strikes me most about Cole, Andrew, and the Old Salt team is just how hard they are working to make this vision a reality. They’re juggling ranching, processing, restaurants, and festivals—businesses that are notoriously difficult on their own—and somehow doing it all with an open spirit of generosity, collaboration, and humility.

In this conversation, we dig into the early days of Old Salt, the failures and lessons that shaped it, and the risks of scaling up in an industry designed to squeeze out small producers. We talk about why they chose to take the harder road of building restaurants and hosting a one-of-a-kind festival, how they measure success beyond the spreadsheet, and why they believe community is as important a product as the beef itself.

Even if you don’t work in food or ranching, the lessons here resonate for anyone trying to build a purpose-driven business. We cover everything from balancing mission and margins, to leading with vulnerability, to learning how to grow without losing sight of your values.

Cole and Andrew are quick to admit they don’t have it all figured out, but their candor, persistence, and vision make this a conversation I know you’ll find as inspiring as I did. Enjoy!

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Old Salt Co-op
Old Salt Festival
Old Salt team
Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/cole-andrew/

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

0:00 - Intro, spirit of generosity
3:38 - Starting at the beginning of Old Salt with Cole
6:51 - Getting to know Andrew with J Bar L
10:18 - Ranching families coming together
14:51 - Lessons learned
19:29 - Getting to the festival, controversies
24:37 - Measuring success
29:20 - Realities of meat processing
34:47 - Restaurant business
38:49 - What we need to know (empower producers!)
42:11 - Start of audience Q&A, snack sticks
44:14 - Q: How did you forge this path?
47:26 - Q: If not the festival, what would the community touch points be?
49:42 - Q: Succession planning
54:41 - Wrapping up and thank yous

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ABOUT MOUNTAIN & PRAIRIE:

Explainer 34 – Institute for Justice's "Barriers to Business" Report