Margins in selling meat farmgate on a low input system - anyone got figures?

[Chasingmytail]

Firstly, we used to run a small direct sell meat enterprise when we were conventionally farming, the abattoir was localish and the wasn't any running around as they delivered to our butcher who hung (badly) and butchered (badly). When a death of my father in law happened and legal case for ex partner we packed it all up due to debts and increased mortgage.

Now we've come back under organic and following Joel Salatin methods of low input which so far is working well.

Husband wants to go back to selling under organic grass fed label and dropping all construction contracting and staying on farm.

A number of things would change - ie the abattoir has closed and as organic means an almighty trek over to Bristol or even further. The butchery would be better placed here (plenty of grants available). Lots of trips back to abattoir to collect meat again. (time elements here). Finding a first class butcher who really would need to be good and available.

Investing in a good hanging fridge. Investing in packaging and good labelling overall giving it a classy and upmarket look. Refrigerated vehicle needed etc.

Finding the customers again and really would have to knock 'local' on the head as there isnt the buyers around here and would be looking at selling box or bulk.

Farmdrop or selling stations are another option. Farmers markets etc no longer economically viable - direct sell to yr door is what I am seeing. Min of £60.

All in all there is a lot of inputs on the carcass and becoming a retailer again. I have numerous concerns regarding the time elements, advertising costs and overheads. Not willing to bust a gut again for a few hundred pounds of gross profit. We have young children and a life to live and concerned by the additional workload that would need to be shared and whether we could afford to have employees.

I'm in such a tither over where to go with our Organic grass fed Aberdeens. Any help or pointers appreciated.

 

[Goatherderess]

I think No 1 has to be you finding the market - are you good at selling? I sell online and from the farm, it is hard work though with lots of FB and Twitter promotion, good website and local adverts when I'm selling from the farmhouse. I'm with the SA as their logo is good for sales. You could also sell to the established organic online retailers perhaps like Graig farm organics which would save the hassle a bit but earn less.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Sell as mixed boxes so you don't end up with a load of stewing, that also guarantees your minimum £60 drop. I'd do at least 2 box sizes. Alternatively - and you're entering a whole new ballgame for food hygiene if you go down this route - do (or get your butcher to) cooked pies or pasties to use up the cheaper cuts, that way you are also adding value.

 

[Pasty]

Good luck with it. I hope you do well. What about online? Social media, eBay etc. ? Have you got a local food assembly? Look that one up. Maybe set one up if there isn't. I might be able to give you a contact if you are interested in that concept.

 

[Pasty]

I think No 1 has to be you finding the market - are you good at selling? I sell online and from the farm, it is hard work though with lots of FB and Twitter promotion, good website and local adverts when I'm selling from the farmhouse. I'm with the SA as their logo is good for sales. You could also sell to the established organic online retailers perhaps like Graig farm organics which would save the hassle a bit but earn less.

Your Twitter feed is awesome! Love it.

 

[Chasingmytail]

Good luck with it. I hope you do well. What about online? Social media, eBay etc. ? Have you got a local food assembly? Look that one up. Maybe set one up if there isn't. I might be able to give you a contact if you are interested in that concept.

What I'm really looking for is it worth the time and effort for the profit margin compared with other income streams. I do firewood and a small egg (pittance) but there is little effort.

I would be interested in supplying another organisation but would have to see the costs and margins involved as this may be a better income stream than selling myself.

No, I havent the time to set anything up or run any assembly. I'm not seeing much publicity either on these assemblies and dont want to nail myself down while the children are young. Sadly, we have no family here to help us out and its really only me here most of the time.

 

[Pasty]

Got young kids too. I know it's a struggle. Should be slave labour but they are more interested in plugging themselves into the internet.........

 

[Princess Pooper]

What I'm really looking for is it worth the time and effort for the profit margin compared with other income streams. I do firewood and a small egg (pittance) but there is little effort.

I would be interested in supplying another organisation but would have to see the costs and margins involved as this may be a better income stream than selling myself.

No, I havent the time to set anything up or run any assembly. I'm not seeing much publicity either on these assemblies and dont want to nail myself down while the children are young. Sadly, we have no family here to help us out and its really only me here most of the time.

We used to sell conventional Angus x small scale as freezer boxes until a year or so ago. We used to budget on at least doubling the value of what we could get for it live, so a £750 live animal we would be looking to get £1500 retail, we used to do delivered boxes, courier was about £12/box, but most were local so I would put some delivery runs together. Vac-packed for shelf life and we had a small chill trailer so we could store it on farm for a few days too to sort deliveries out

 

[Greenbeast]

As for refrigerated vehicle, how about a chiller/freezer trailer, that's what we did, saved the expense of keeping another vehicle on the road
We have the butcher vac pack everything apart from sausages. We had a logo designed and then got a local printing firm to do labels, which go on all the vac packed pieces (and our egg boxes). We then designed card sleeves that go round the sausage trays, like the pricier supermarkets use. Gives everything a classy feel

 

[wilber]

If you have questions ring Graig Farm Organics and have a chat. I know the family, and they are very nice people.

 

[multi power]

Don't sell your stuff too cheap, lot of people think the more they pay the better it is

 

[Pasty]

Don't sell your stuff too cheap, lot of people think the more they pay the better it is

Perceived value. If you see a Ferrari for £20k and one for 30k and both are the same year / mileage, which one do you assume is in better condition. It works.

 

[multi power]

Perceived value. If you see a Ferrari for £20k and one for 30k and both are the same year / mileage, which one do you assume is in better condition. It works.

Well I'm tight but my high maintenance sis in law would be chuffed with the dear one

 

[mikep]

Sell as mixed boxes so you don't end up with a load of stewing, that also guarantees your minimum £60 drop. I'd do at least 2 box sizes. Alternatively - and you're entering a whole new ballgame for food hygiene if you go down this route - do (or get your butcher to) cooked pies or pasties to use up the cheaper cuts, that way you are also adding value.

No no a thousand times no. If you don't want to end up on the wrong end of the hygiene police dont even think of mixing cooked and raw.
You must have a HACCP qualification and use hazard analysis for all your operations, you must have duplicate equipment or a large degree of separation between cooked and raw. Do one or the other but with raw it is much easier to keep your customers alive!
We went down that route but on a larger scale and it is not easy and getting worse so unless you want a huge amount of expense and massive learning curve leave cooked and go with the raw.

 

[Princess Pooper]

No no a thousand times no. If you don't want to end up on the wrong end of the hygiene police dont even think of mixing cooked and raw.
You must have a HACCP qualification and use hazard analysis for all your operations, you must have duplicate equipment or a large degree of separation between cooked and raw. Do one or the other but with raw it is much easier to keep your customers alive!
We went down that route but on a larger scale and it is not easy and getting worse so unless you want a huge amount of expense and massive learning curve leave cooked and go with the raw.

I did stress it was a big step to take. You need to do HACCP anyway, even for raw.

 

[Old Boar]

I looked into cooking as that is where the money is, but it would have needed a completely new unit and lots and lots of paperwork, and a lot more work.
It is legal to take the animal to slaughter and pick it up straight away, as long as you can prove the temperature of the animal continued to fall until it is hung. A large chiller room is not too expensive if you buy second hand and is a necessary bit of the whole business. It also means you can cut to order and not have to cut it all at the same time. I found Farmers Markets good if you get a good one, but it also means you can push direct sales and boxes, and eventually build a customer base so you can drop the market.
The alternative is to sell to someone who already has an outlet, but this of course drops the profit margin, but does give you a lot more free time.
Anything you can do with the meat will add value - but again there is the time element.

 

[Chasingmytail]

IMO the best way to make a quick buck is to sausage and burger most of the lesser cuts and cook them up on a stall. Apart from it looking hardwork and long hours the return must be massive.

 

[Chasingmytail]

Dont think farmers markets are busy enough now and do people buy enough? Farmers markets have become artisan breads, chorizo and craft markets - a real farmer not to be seen. Whereas delivered to your door then people will buy half a pig or a mixed box of beef and they dont need to be there it can be left on the door step. I'm not hearing much feedback on the Food Assembly/farm drop and wonder if these are as good as they aim to be. Farmdrop may be better as again no effort is needed to leave the house.

 

[Wink]

Dont think farmers markets are busy enough now and do people buy enough? Farmers markets have become artisan breads, chorizo and craft markets - a real farmer not to be seen. Whereas delivered to your door then people will buy half a pig or a mixed box of beef and they dont need to be there it can be left on the door step. I'm not hearing much feedback on the Food Assembly/farm drop and wonder if these are as good as they aim to be. Farmdrop may be better as again no effort is needed to leave the house.

We still do Farmers Markets and there are plenty of real farmers still there. However, you are correct, they have really dropped off since the good old days - footfall is stagnant/decreasing, customer spend well down and weather dependant of course plus increased competition. They are still an important part of our business though and are a good shop face. I would say a lot of people don't really want half animals, you can sell a certain amount but on a sizeable scale you might struggle to shift large amounts of meat on a regular basis? The farm we rent land from, who also have a Salatin type approach are now just looking into a mixed meat box delivery scheme locally as well as catering, farmers markets, farm shop, pubs and restaurants deliveries etc (we do similar).

IMO the best way to make a quick buck is to sausage and burger most of the lesser cuts and cook them up on a stall. Apart from it looking hardwork and long hours the return must be massive.

There is profit margin in cooking on a stall but can you really do it as a quick buck these days with all the regs? But for sure - get set up properly and pick the right events and hope for good weather if outside and profit could be good with the greatest profit margin from the animal if you sell enough.

It's hard work this farming, processing, catering, retailing malarkey but arguably the only way to make money on a smallish scale and is very satisfying/rewarding!

We look forward to hearing your progress and plans and best of luck to you!

 

[Still Farming]

Killing and cutting up charges are often quite expensive and local abattioirs none existant these days