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Direct meat buying system aims to be a cut above the rest

An Adelaide Hills entrepreneur has launched a meat buying platform which aims to offer an alternative to supermarket shelves by connecting consumers directly with small farmers.

Nov 30, 2022, updated Nov 30, 2022
'Half a cow' platform founder and CEO James Gilbert aims to connect customers with producers.  Photo: Supplied

'Half a cow' platform founder and CEO James Gilbert aims to connect customers with producers. Photo: Supplied

The ‘Half A Cow’ platform sees consumers directly connected to local farmers to purchase meat at a wholesale price, with the aim of giving farmers a fairer price than what they receive from supermarket chains.

Platform founder and CEO James Gilbert said customers could buy meat locally or regionally from smaller farms, with better animal welfare and reduced transport costs and emissions.

“You’re taking two or three steps out of the chain through this,” Gilbert said.

After buying either a quarter, half, or full cow from a local farm, the animal is processed at a local abattoir with the customer receiving the meat in pre-prepared cuts.

“[Local] meat tastes better because the cow is less stressed; they aren’t moved across the country in unfamiliar surroundings – you might be getting a cow that grew up in Hahndorf,” Gilbert said.

“When you buy a portion of a cow you’re getting a lot of different cuts prepared including mince, sausages, T-bones, brisket, and more.”

Besides beef, the platform also offers pork, lamb and chicken.

Each farm that signs onto the service creates its own landing page where it can advertise what is available and detail animal feed and living conditions.

Half A Cow takes a 3.5% fee on all transactions.

Photo: Half a Cow

Gilbert said some farmers had sold meat in bulk privately for generations.

“People in the country have been aware of this – we’re just solving the logistical time and effort issues,” he said.

“If you’re a small farm, to own 100 cows at any one time would cost you $200,000. The bigger farms sell their cattle 50 at a time at the least, which small farms just can’t compete with.

“So they’re confined to sell at sale yards where the prices can change erratically, but they’re powerless to that. Through the website, they’re getting more of a dress weight price [ready for sale] than just a live weight price.”

After making over $100,000 in its first 12 weeks, the startup company has launched a crowdfunding campaign with the aim of raising $600,00 and aims to have 1000 farms listed in the next year.

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