Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Claire Roberts, 2C Farmstore
At a glance: Claire Roberts had the idea of a store where she could sell fresh meat from their family’s farm. In response to customer demand, that store has transitioned to offering baked goods and premade meals which are available to customers 24-7. Their entrepreneurship has earned them a Kansas business award.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Cody and Claire Roberts
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Dec. 17, 2025
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
“What’s for supper?” That perennial question may be a challenge, since families enjoy home-cooked meals, but often there’s no time to prepare them.
Today we’ll meet a Kansas family that found a solution to that problem as they served their rural community. They continue to offer this service with meals and treats that are available anytime, day or night.
Claire and Cody Roberts are founders and owners of 2C Farmstore in Hill City. Their store now specializes in homemade meals and treats that are available 24-7 as supplies allow.
At right: Cody and Claire Roberts | Download this photo
Claire grew up in Hill City. She met Cody in high school. He went to K-State-Salina before coming back to Hill City where he and Claire were married. They now have three children.
They are now farming. Cody is working for a local farmer as well. Claire worked as a bookkeeper but had a business idea of her own.
“I thought about having a farm store where we could sell our own products, such as our beef and pork,” she said.
In 2022, they launched their own business. Using their first initials, it was named 2C Farmstore.
“The store has evolved in response to what the community wanted,” Roberts said. Over time, they observed a high demand for baked goods and even meals.
“We try to focus on what the people want,” Roberts said. Her baked goods have proven to be especially popular.
“We also could see the need for lunch meals,” Roberts said.
She devised a system where hot lunch would be offered one day a week, and then frozen meals would be made available on a self-serve basis anytime while supplies last.
On Monday, a hot lunch and salad bar is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then, premade meals and salads are available at approximately 3 p.m. until they’re sold out. On Thursdays, lunch sandwiches and salads are also offered.
Menu items for these full meals change each week and are posted online. For example, recent offerings included BBQ meatballs, steamed broccoli, cheesy potatoes, deviled eggs, and salad bar. On another week, the menu included chicken bacon ranch sandwich, southwest chicken salad, and grape salad. Later on, the list was French dip, roasted asparagus, cheesecake fruit salad, potato salad, and salad bar.
The list of delicious meals goes on and on. The store also offers pop and convenience store items.
Baked goods include pies, cookies, cookie bars and others. The cookies and bars can be ordered by the dozen as treat trays. Also offered are such items as wedding cake sandwiches, strawberry pretzel desserts, cinnamon rolls, peanut butter bars and more. The company also offers beautifully decorated wedding cakes.
2C Farmstore in downtown Hill City is open for self-serve 24-7. That means customers can pick up available products whenever desired, but it also means that there is an honor system.
“We have security cameras in place and we check inventory 1-3 times daily,” Roberts said. “We have almost no problems with it.”
One group asked 2C Farmstore to bring them a meal for an event. That led to a catering service. “We’ve been catering locally for two years,” Roberts said.
This is truly a family business involving her sisters.
“We started very small,” Roberts said. “We all had little kids and we’d bring them with us and come in one day a week.”
Now sister Katie works on the store and sister Lily does the cake decorating. There are eight kids among all the families.
“Someone said, ‘Oh, do you have a day care?’ No, I said, they’re all ours,” Roberts said.
The combination of convenience and homemade quality is making a difference. 2C Farmstore received a business award from the Kansas Department of Commerce in 2024.
It’s great to find this business in a rural community such as Hill City, population 1,374 people. Now, that’s rural.
“(The business) has grown at a rate that I can’t believe,” Roberts said.
For more information, see www.2cfarmstore.com.
We commend Claire and Cody Roberts and all those involved with 2C Farmstore for their hard work and customer service.
Let’s eat supper!
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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K‑State Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the wellbeing of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.