What is Bulk Buying?
Essentially, bulk buying is what it sounds like – purchasing a large quantity of meat.
However, bulk buying most often refers to buying a large portion of a live animal (like a whole or ½ cow) at a wholesale price before that animal is slaughtered. This provides the farmer money upfront to cover costs, and it allows the consumer the flexibility to decide what kind of meat they’d like to receive, and in what quantities.
Bulk buying is a long-term purchase. Usually, customers purchase a whole or ½ cow for the next six months or a year (or even longer). Consequently, it’s a significant investment over a long period of time.
How does bulk buying work?
First, you’ll place a pre-order for either a whole or ½ animal. (Don’t want – or can’t eat – that much meat? We’ll talk about how to buy in smaller portions in our next email, so stay tuned!)
Then, you’ll be charged an initial deposit. This deposit counts toward your overall purchase, and as I mentioned above, it helps the farmer cover costs – both for processing and for planning ahead (more on that later!). You can find out specific deposit numbers here.
Next, Joe will be in contact when you’re a week or two away from the animal’s slaughter date to go over your cut sheet. This is the sheet that’s given to the butcher, which specifies the exact types of meat you want, and in which quantities. For example – do you want ground beef? If so, how much? In 1 lb. packs or 2 lb. packs? What kind of steaks do you want? etc. Joe will go over all the options with you, so that you receive your meat exactly how you’d like it.
Finally, once the animal is slaughtered and your meat has been processed, we’ll deliver the meat to you. At delivery time, the remaining balance will be due by cash or check.
We’ll go over the numbers in the next email, from the estimated costs to budgeting information. The initial cost of bulk buying is one of the most daunting aspects of it – but, as we'll discuss, it’s actually the most cost-effective option in the long run.
Why Buy in Bulk?
Bulk buying is a significant paradigm shift. We’re accustomed to the convenience of getting individual items when we want them, no matter what time of year, in the exact quantities that our often limited storage space can hold. However, bulk buying challenges all of those notions.
Bulk buying is an investment – in your farmer, in your food security, and in your health.
Farmers depend on customers who buy in bulk to plan for the seasons ahead. We can’t purchase calves for 2024 until we’ve received enough funds in 2022 to do so. In other words, bulk buying makes the job of providing meat in the future possible.
Moreover, buying in bulk provides security against both food scarcity and inflation. Not only are you buying at a wholesale price, which is significantly reduced from a retail price, but you’re also buying at a price that’s locked in from fluctuations – for probably a year, if not longer. Also, your food security won’t be subject to any variety of shortages that could cause problems in the supply chain, as we’ve frequently seen in the last two years.
Finally, buying in bulk provides you with access to nutrient-dense food for a substantial period of time. 100% grass-fed beef contains significantly higher amounts of the macro- and micro-nutrients our bodies need to thrive. Additionally, when you buy in bulk you’ll receive the other parts of the “whole” animal – like the bones and organs – which have superior nutrition, but are frequently overlooked.
In fact, buying a large portion of an animal gives you a new understanding of and gratitude for what that animal has to offer – by eating the whole animal, not just portions of it.
Bulk buying creates long-term relationships.
You probably signed up for this series, or started purchasing meat from us, because you care about where your food comes from, and you want to have a personal relationship with the farmer who grows it. Bulk buying helps strengthen those relationships.
As I mentioned above, buying in bulk allows your relationship with a farmer to persist, by providing the support they need to keep the farm running.
But it also influences the relationship that a farmer has with their particular land. In order to provide on-demand meat, at all times of the year, farmers are forced to grow and harvest livestock at all times of the year. However, this puts stress on the land and the animals.
Depending on the region, animals “grow out”, or put on weight, best at particular times of the year. In our region of North Carolina, those times of year are late spring and early fall. Harvesting animals at the right time, and having customers to sell them in bulk to, provides our farm the opportunity to let the land rest during the winter. This means that there’s less impact, and therefore better soil quality and long-term health, for the land.
But it also guarantees that you're receiving the highest-quality meat. Harvesting animals at the right time produces the best marbling, tenderness, and flavor for your beef.
Finally, buying in bulk fosters a relationship with your broader community, beyond the farmer. Your purchase allows a small business to thrive – and therefore collaborate with other businesses and farms.
And if you can’t afford or can’t eat a whole or ½ cow yourself? You can still find ways to collaborate with others to buy in bulk, and create new relationships through doing so.
Want to know more about this? Check out Part 2 of our bulk beef series.
