Resources for those who wish to produce beef directly for people.
1. Figure out a niche that you can fill: organic, grass-fed, local, dry-aged, breed specific. Look at your current production capabilities and evaluate whether they can be tweaked into filling a niche. Simply producing beef isn’t enough; you must differentiate yourself.
2. Develop a product. You must produce consistent excellence.
3. Develop a passion. You must be convinced that your beef is among the best—for whatever reason. If you do not have a passion about your beef, you will always feel like a salesman. If you do have a passion, you will feel like you are telling people good news.
4. Identify your target clientele. You need to have a good idea of who they are, what is important to them and how to reach them.
5. Decide how you will reach your clientele. Consider farmer’s markets, selling through stores, direct to patrons via mail order or delivery, through restaurants, etc.
6. Identify legal constraints. For example, if you want to sell retail by the cut, in many states you must use a USDA inspected packer. You also need to consider sales tax, health and sanitation requirements, business licenses, and insurance. Think early on about a bookkeeping system.
7. Find a packer. Price should not be your main criteria. Your packer is a key link between live beef and saleable packages. Their reputation, cleanliness, consistency, ageing quality, and packaging is critical to your success.
8. Learn about meat. You need to be familiar with all the cuts produced.
9. Establish a price that is fair and profitable. Look at typical pricing for your type of product. Don’t under-price, which is the most common mistake made. Consider the commercial value, and add the extra costs associated with marketing direct.
10. Develop a presentation: logo, packaging, sales materials. Think about the overall impression you want your product to make, your clientele, and what would be attractive to them. You want your logo and materials to reflect your mission. Think hard about this—your logo is your “presence,” and you want it to be good.
11. Figure out distribution/ trucking. Moving frozen or cold meat in the back of your suburban in coolers going house to house gets old fast, may compromise your quality, and is probably illegal in most places unless you have some type of permit.
12. Start selling product!