Direct marketing of meat is an option available to farmers looking to improve their margins, especially when there is a good story to tell in terms of how the meat is produced. Nonetheless, it does come with extra considerations, such as how to promote and distribute the product in a way that is efficient, works for the farm business and its location and matches the skillset of the people on-farm and how they want to spend their time.
In a 2024 Farm of the Future webinar focused on reaping the benefits from the direct marketing of meat, Arran Redman from Innovation for Agriculture was joined by three livestock farmers who have ventured into direct sales of meat. George Ford from Nempnett Pastures in Somerset, Ben Jones from Hillside Beef and Lamb near Abergavenny and Matt Chatfield from the Cornwall Project each shared their experience of branching into direct meat sales. Their insights will be useful to any farmers considering direct marketing of produce.
Ben Jones – Hillside Beef and Lamb
It was the need to ensure the profitability of a farm business with a small acreage that led Ben to the direct marketing of beef and lamb.
Ben first ventured into direct meat sales while living in Somerset, when he made pork boxes for friends from a plot of land, which then expanded as he took on more land and started offering sheep boxes too. After moving back to South Wales 12 years ago, it was the sale of a cull cow for just £20 that kickstarted the expansion into beef boxes.
During the webinar, Ben explained that after buying a whole herd of cattle that were in calf, when they got to weaning there were five cows which he did not want to put in calf again, so he decided to take them to market to sell as cull cows. Of these, all three of which were Dexters, the lowest price one sold for just £20. Realising that to sell at such low prices was unaffordable to the farm business, Ben decided to try selling beef boxes in addition to the lamb boxes. The following week he took the remaining two cows to the abattoir, and because they were older animals had them processed as mince and burgers. After the butcher’s bills were paid, he ended up with approximately £1,000 from each animal.
Initially, an animal went every couple of months, with anything that didn’t sell going in the freezer and sold between animals going. Now, the beef boxes have taken over as the main part of the business. Last year, two steers were going through the abattoir per fortnight, with a waiting list of customers wanting beef. The lambs are seasonal and tend to go from late summer through to just before lambing.
George Ford – Nempnett Pastures
George is a 6th generation farmer on a 74-hectare pasture farm located 12 miles south of Bristol. Up until a couple of years ago, most of the farm’s income came from an intensive indoor pig unit which brought in weaners, reared them and sold them to the markets. He shared that he could not get passionate about the enterprise, so looked for alternatives that would work for their farm size.
George and his family decided to stop rearing the pigs in February 2022 to focus on selling high-welfare, pasture reared meat directly to the consumer. The new enterprises consist of pasture raised broilers, a beef suckler herd and pasture raised Christmas turkeys, which was the enterprise that got them started with direct sales in 2018, when George took on a small customer list from his dad’s cousin. They have recently started doing open farm events such as farm tours, which gives the opportunity to educate the public, tell the story of the farm and where the food comes from and for people to sample and buy the meat straight from the farm.
Although the change initially made the farm business less financially secure, removing the pigs has created other opportunities for income. The family farmhouse, which was previously right next to the pig unit, has now been renovated and turned into a holiday let. There are also a few stables which are rented out.
Matt Chatfield – The Cornwall Project
Matt’s family have farmed his family farm for about 400 years, with his granddad milking 40 dairy cows when Matt was growing up, but the business was not profitable and ended up winding down to a stop. As he was not encouraged to farm, Matt ended up working in London, but decided to return to the farm after his grandparents died. Having seen his Grandad work so hard but not be able to make the farm business work, Matt decided to take a unique approach and secure a market before he started producing anything.
He approached the local butcher business, Phillip Warren, with the suggestion that he could set up a restaurant supply chain that brought Cornish meat to top-quality London restaurants, with the intention that he could eventually sell his meat into it. With the Warren’s agreement Matt set about networking with chefs, largely by doing deliveries which was an excellent way to get to know up and coming chefs, many of whom were starting to ask questions around where meat they sourced came from and how it was produced. He also ran kitchens and events and attended markets, all contributing to the building of a decent supply chain over approximately ten years.
Once back in Cornwall and farming, Matt wanted to produce world class meat, so looked for ideas of how to do something new and different. He visited Spain to see how Jamón is made, which in Matt’s opinion, is the best meat in the world. The pigs forage a living for about 18 months of their lives, walking around in very arid conditions and weigh about 80 kg after 18 months. They are then put in acorn fields and after 3 months they double their size. He realised that he could do something similar with sheep, by taking cull sheep that have just weaned their lambs and fattening them on forage, then ageing them for four weeks.
Now, Matt’s farming business focuses on fattening sheep to produce his product ‘Cull Yaw’, named after the colloquial name for ewe in Devon. He uses sheep to improve soil and biodiversity, by mob grazing woodland or pasture. The Warrens then do what they’re good at – hanging meat – and he sells to the restaurants at the end.
Marketing insights for direct sales of meat
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to direct marketing of meat products.
For some, a business model in which the produce is sold directly to restaurants works, whereas for others selling to households is a better fit. Logistics matters, whether that’s the choice between selling via farmers markets’ an onsite farm shop, investing in a chilled van to deliver straight to customers or using courier services to be able to sell to customers all over the country.
Some tips and insights based on the speakers’ experiences are as follows:
- If you’re going to sell a product, you must be prepared for marketing to take up a lot of your time. It’s therefore important to be passionate about your product and the story you are sharing with your customers
- Having a USP (unique selling point) makes it easier to tell a story. For example, George’s turkeys and chickens are completely pasture raised, with the turkeys perching on gobblegos overnight, mimicking perching on a tree away from predators in the wild. Likewise, Matt’s approach to fattening sheep to produce top quality flavour appeals to his customers
- Social media can play a big role. Ben uses Facebook in particular for advertising to new customers and also to share what is happening on the farm, as he has found that people are interested in farming practices, such as seeing how mob grazing is used to benefit the soil and biodiversity. Similarly, Matt uses X (previously Twitter) to keep chefs up to date with how the meat is being produced and what makes it different
- An order management system that works is vital. Building a website was transformative for George, as it enables customers to order what they like when they like, and he was no longer answering the phone to take orders while out on the farm
- Explore different ways to distribute products and decide what will work for you and your business. The challenge of being in a remote area can be overcome by using couriers. On the flip side, holding an event on-farm can result in selling a large amount of produce in one day
- Presentation can reinforce the perception of quality to customers. For example, George started shrink wrapping birds and adding an attractive label
- Exercise caution around making claims about nutrient density. There is data to support that farming in harmony with nature, for example with livestock grazing diverse pastures, does produce more nutritious meat. But the speakers recommended against making a claim that a product is more nutrient dense, unless you are actually getting its nutritional density analysed
Hearing about Ben, George and Matt’s experiences of marketing and selling meat made it clear that there is more than one way to approach direct sales of meat from farms. There are certainly opportunities for farm businesses to increase their resilience and profitability through direct sales. In Ben’s words, “I think it’s a growing market, there are more people interested in where their food comes from, who want to know what they’re putting in their bodies and want to meet the person growing their food.”
Watch the webinar in the members’ area of the website to learn more.