Phil Halstead
Phil Halstead is co-owner of Red Truck Orchards, the Northport, Michigan cherry brand featured on How I Built This. A 40-year cherry industry veteran, he runs the business with his wife Sarah Hallstedt out of Hallstedt Homestead Cherries, a first-generation U-Pick farm in Leelanau County.
Phil Halstead's Bio
Phil Halstead is co-owner of Red Truck Orchards, a Northport, Michigan cherry brand known for its skin-on cherry vinegar and farm-first sourcing. He co-founded the business with his wife Sarah Hallstedt, drawing on four decades of cherry-industry experience and a family history rooted in Leelanau County agriculture.
Halstead’s background is in pharmaceuticals and cherry production, not tech startups or venture capital. That operational grounding shaped Red Truck Orchards as a slow, deliberate brand: the cherry vinegar is produced in small batches from locally grown Leelanau County cherries, using a skin-on, double-fermentation process rather than commodity concentrates.
After launching the brand out of Hallstedt Homestead Cherries, a first-generation U-Pick cherry farm, Halstead oversaw a soft launch and then a gradual push into farmers markets, local retail, and online sales. The business is intentionally community-oriented, framed as an umbrella that could eventually include multiple local cherry growers rather than a single-operator product line.
On episode 839 of How I Built This, Halstead discussed marketing a product most consumers have never tasted, the importance of getting samples into people’s hands, and the long game of building a regional food brand outside mainstream grocery distribution.
Career Timeline
1980 — 40-year cherry industry career
Began his decades-long career in the cherry industry, working in pharmaceuticals and cherry production.
2015 — Co-founded Red Truck Orchards
Co-founded the Northport, Michigan cherry brand with wife Sarah Hallstedt, drawing on Hallstedt Homestead Cherries farm roots.
2016 — Developed cherry vinegar process at Red Truck Orchards
Created the skin-on, double-fermentation cherry vinegar using locally grown Leelanau County cherries rather than commodity concentrates.
2018 — Soft launch of Red Truck Orchards
Soft-launched the brand, focusing on local farmers markets and community retail in Northport, Michigan.
2020 — Expanded regional distribution at Red Truck Orchards
Expanded into additional regional retail and online sales, growing the cherry vinegar line through direct-to-consumer channels.
2023 — Community-grower model at Red Truck Orchards
Positioned Red Truck Orchards as an umbrella for multiple local cherry growers, moving beyond a single-operator product line.
2026 — Featured on How I Built This episode 839 at How I Built This / NPR
Appeared on NPR's How I Built This podcast to discuss marketing a novel product, consumer sampling, and building a regional food brand.
