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The US may be facing a meat shortage in grocery stores, but you can still buy meat directly from small farmers and restaurant suppliers
The US may be facing a meat shortage in grocery stores, but you can still buy meat directly from small farmers and restaurant suppliers
Irene JiangApr 14, 2020, 21:07 IST
ReutersMeat may be the next grocery staple to see a shortage.
The US will likely see a shortage of meat in grocery stores soon.
Meat processing plants have been forced to close unexpectedly as workers contract COVID-19.
Even though grocery store meat shelves may become sparse, there will still be plenty of ways to get large quantities of high-quality meats.
Restaurant suppliers, local farms, rancher coalitions, and direct-to-consumer meat websites are less likely to be affected by supply chain issues than conventional grocery store meat brands.
The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to acquire many grocery basics, and meat might be next on the chopping block.
Despite early assurances that the food supply chain would not be disrupted, slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are being forced to close due to workers being diagnosed with COVID-19. This means that grocery stores' meat cases aren't likely to stay fully stocked in the near future.
That being said, there are plenty of ways consumers can still buy meat. Independent farmers and ranchers who process their own meat will likely be less affected by pandemic-related shutdowns. This meat is typically both of higher quality and more expensive than most meat sold in your average grocery stores.
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Unfortunately, that means that buying from these sources won't be feasible for everyone. However, a good bargain can still be found if you look hard enough. And splitting the cost of large orders with friends or neighbors is a good way to take advantage of cheap bulk offers.
If your grocery store runs out of meat, check out these options to see one of them meets your needs.
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Since a lot of restaurants have closed down due to the pandemic, their suppliers have scrambled to figure out what to do with the ingredients those restaurants would have bought.
Food Service Direct sells bulk orders of food service ingredients. In addition to nonperishables and kitchen supplies, you can buy large orders of meat ranging from low-grade to high-grade. Some of the mass-produced meat on this site is likely to be affected by shortages, but other items likely will not.
The Chef's Warehouse is a website that used to be targeted toward restaurants and gourmet stores and has served the likes of Eric Ripert and Jose Andrés. However, Chef's Warehouse also does home delivery for consumers. Its offerings, which are all local, all fall into the gourmet foods (and up) category, but prices are reasonable for what you're getting.
Also notable are meat supplier Rastelli's and luxury goods purveyor D'Artagnan, among many, many more.
Companies have been selling meat directly to consumers for a long time, and Omaha Steaks is one of those companies. Omaha Steaks' products aren't cheap, but they're cheaper if you buy in bulk. Chicago Steaks is another classic consumer-targeted fine meats purveyor, and similar to Omaha Steaks, has a specialized selection. And US Wellness Meats offers free delivery on orders of $75, with a weight minimum of seven pounds.
More recent entries into the direct-to-consumer meat market include Crowd Cow, The Savory Butcher, and Porter Road. Some of the newer DTC companies offer subscription box services similar to that of Butcher Box, which currently has a waitlist to join.
Ranchers that process and sell their own meat are more likely to have meat in stock. There are countless small or independent ranchers across the US, as well as their collectives. To find a local farmer near you, you can search on farming directories Local Harvest or Eat Wild. There are plenty of farmers looking to reach consumers online as well as in-person.
For example, Farmfoods is a collective of 14 farms and ranches where you can buy beef, pork, poultry, or seafood À la carte as well as portions of a cow. The collective offers free shipping on orders of over 10 pounds.
Farmer's Fresh Meats is a Texas-based meat manufacturing company that sources all of its meat locally. However, it only delivers bulk orders. For smaller orders, you have to use in-store pickup. Northwest-based Snake River Farms sells everything from $12/pound ground beef to $200 aged Wagyu steaks. However, it charges a flat delivery fee of $50.
