Raising the steaks: crowdfunding grass-fed beef
There’s a growing movement to promote sustainable production
If crowdsourcing makes you think of fundraising campaigns for smartwatches and wine coolers rather than sustainable food, you’re not alone. But a new Seattle-based startup called Crowd Cow is hoping to change that.
Crowd Cow works like most crowdfunding campaigns. Every few days, the company hosts an “event” on its website featuring cows from one of the seven beef ranchers it works with on the west coast. There are photos and videos of the ranch itself, to give people a better understanding of the farmers and the cows on the ranch. Customers can then select cuts of beef they wish to buy from the ranch. Once enough beef has been purchased, the cow “tips” — and customers become “steakholders” in the cow. “Steakholders” then receive their beef (frozen in dry ice) in as little as a few days. If the cow doesn’t tip, there is no charge. But most Crowd Cow cows tip within one or two days.
Crowd Cow, which started taking orders in mid-2015, is part of a growing movement to promote sustainable meat production. The start-up creates a market for more grass-fed beef, which keeps more cows grazing on pastures and gives farmers a more sustainable alternative to raising calves to sell to factory The majority of Americans buy their beef at grocery stores, where most of it hails from factory farms operated by large agricultural corporations. Conventional beef sales continue to dominate the fresh-beef market, with grass-fed beef accounting for only 1.4 per cent of $18 billion (Dh66 billion) in sales in the US in 2015, according to a recent Nielsen study. That said, the market for grass-fed beef is growing dramatically. In 2015, grass-fed beef sales increased by almost 40 per cent, compared to a 6.5 per cent increase for conventional beef. “The demand for grass-fed beef is driven by two factors,” said Richard VanVranken, a professor of agriculture and resource management at Rutgers University. “One is the promotion of the general feeling that grass-fed beef is somehow tastier. The other is the assumption that [it] is somehow more humane.” farms. “More and more people are waking up to the fact that factory farming is cruel to animals, detrimental to the health of humans, and unsustainable for the planet,” said Brian Kateman, a professor at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. “That’s why there is a growing demand for alternatives to conventionally produced animal products.”
“As long as there is a growing — or at least steady — consumer base interested in local and grass-fed beef, Crowd Cow has the opportunity to serve that market niche, in turn creating a steadier market outlet for local farmers,” said Richard VanVranken, a professor of agriculture and resource management at Rutgers University.
Growing demand
“Anything that allows farmers to increase prices received, reduce costs of production or in this case, marketing, and to plan for future production with a more stable and secure market is a good thing.”
As demand for grass-fed beef grows, the meat industry is shifting to meet a new market. Many farmers now offer online ordering, while delivery services such as Amazon Fresh allow customers to place orders for grass-fed meat. But usually, these services are confined to small delivery areas. Enter start-ups such as Crowd Cow and ButcherBox — a monthly subscription service for grassfed beef. Because they source from multiple farms, their range of products and delivery areas can be much larger than individual farmers, or even grocery delivery services. However, most services such as ButcherBox require customers to select from pre-selected packages of meat. Others are only available as a monthly service.
“If consumers find that grass-fed beef is available significantly less expensive from traditional retail sources, what will keep them buying from Crowd Cow?” VanVranken said. “Coolness factor and convenience go only so far.”