Mill Valley, CA – “We are proud to introduce Marin Grass-Fed Meat Company, LLC to San Francisco Bay Area residents”, said Christopher Gutek, owner of the company. “We believe that Marin Grass-Fed Meat Company offers a compelling value proposition to area consumers who want local, sustainable, high-quality, healthful, flavorful, 100% grass-fed beef, yet who are turned off by high prices at premium grocery stores and markets”. Furthermore, the company offers an attractive new distribution channel for local ranchers, who might otherwise sell into the conventional food supply chain at low prices.
As the public loses confidence in parts of the conventional food supply, and as the “locavore” movement gains traction, farmers are increasingly selling directly to the public, often via CSA (community supported agriculture) subscription and delivery programs. However, relatively few ranchers in the Bay Area do this with meat, and even fewer, if any, offer inexpensive delivery to the consumer’s home. This leaves most consumers who want non-conventional, local meats with only two obvious choices: 1) buy meat by the cut at specialty markets, but pay very high prices, or 2) buy a quarter of beef from a rancher, and get a great deal. “But, what if you don’t want to, or can’t afford to, pay high market prices, and you don’t want to store 100+ lbs of meat?”, asks Gutek. “We think that we’ve created a better option for consumers”.
100% grass-fed beef has substantial health benefits over conventional, corn-fed beef, since it is lower in fat and calories, and it has much more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and beta carotene. Grass-fed beef is also much more sustainable for the environment, it is more humane for the animal, and it has more flavor than conventional beef.
Beef and lamb production in Marin and neighboring counties has been declining for generations, despite increased interest in local foods and the rapid growth in farmers’ markets. But, production is shifting towards sustainable grass-fed and pasture-raised practices, so local supply of this good meat is fairly high. Yet, “the reality is that most ranchers want to be raising their animals, not marketing to the public or dealing with business issues”, said Gutek. As a consequence, lacking better options, some ranchers choose to sell their high-quality, premium animals into the conventional food supply, even at low market prices. “We’d like to help ranchers bring their high-quality local meats into the premium Bay Area market, to help make local meat production more economically viable”, said Gutek.
About Marin Grass-Fed Meat Company, LLC:
The company purchases 100% grass-fed Black Angus beef from Marin County ranchers, and the meat is dry-aged and butchered in Petaluma, CA. The company sells a variety of beef packages, including steaks, roasts, ground beef, and value-priced variety packs. The frozen and vacuum-sealed meat can be delivered same-day or next-day. The company currently offers only beef, but intends to add lamb and other local grass-fed and pasture-raised meats in coming months.
Christopher and Susan Gutek started the company in 2010, with two goals in mind. First, deliver delicious, high-quality, locally and humanely raised meat products to San Francisco Bay Area residents, at a total cost per pound that is well less than consumers would pay at high-end markets for comparable meat. Second, provide additional local distribution channels for area ranchers, especially those that might otherwise sell into the traditional food supply chain at low prices. We can provide very high quality and locally raised meat at attractive prices because our overhead costs are very low and because we sell 10-25 lb packages of frozen meat. Also, we mostly buy whole animals, not just the prime cuts, and since the meat is usually delivered or shipped directly from the butcher's facility to the consumer’s home, we can minimize our inventory.
Marin Grass-Fed Meat Company: More Healthful for the Consumer, More Sustainable for the Environment, More Humane for the Animal
Source: Marin Grass-Fed Meat Company, LLC