Why pork is taking a little longer
Hi everyone,
We picked up our pork from the butcher recently, and while going through the orders we realized that some things weren’t adding up correctly with the billing and packaging.
A couple examples of what we found:
- One customer received more of a certain cut than what would normally come from one pig.
- Another order had far more total cuts than what a single pig could produce.
Because of this, we need to go through everything ourselves, weigh it, and sort it properly so every order reflects what actually came from each animal.
We did reach out to our butcher right away to let them know. We have a very good relationship with them and believe honesty matters on both sides. Mistakes can happen in any fast-paced industry, especially when there are many animals, cuts, labels, and invoices moving through a system. It’s important to us that everyone is treated fairly.
For that reason, pork share orders will take a little longer while we get everything properly sorted.
Being transparent about situations like this matters to us. Some people might feel like they are “paying more” when things are corrected, but the reality is that it simply reflects the correct amount of meat and the true cost of processing from the start. We aren’t in this business to short change anyone, and we also aren’t comfortable benefiting from someone else’s mistake. At the end of the day, doing the right thing matters more than what someone could get away with.
Because we’re still sorting through the pork inventory, we won’t be doing one large website restock. Instead, we’ll release smaller amounts of inventory each week as things are finalized on our end. So keep an eye on your email for the inventory release notifications.
And since we’re talking about mistakes, we’ll share one we made ourselves.
One thing that has cost us quite a bit of money over the last couple years was not weighing our animals before sending them to the butcher. We’re newer to finishing our own cattle. Finishing means raising the animal after it leaves its mother and feeding it in a way that helps it reach the right weight and condition before processing.
For generations, our family simply sold calves through the auction mart. Once they left the farm, someone else finished them. When we decided to start finishing our own animals and selling meat directly to customers, we jumped in head first.
For the first couple years we mostly finished animals on grass, and we didn’t realize how much weight and fat they should have before going to the butcher. Because of that, some animals went in a few hundred pounds lighter than they should have.
That meant two things:
- We made less money per animal.
- There were fewer cuts of meat coming back from each animal.
Which is a big reason why our inventory has sometimes sold out so quickly.
Our butcher actually took the time to point this out to us. They explained that our animals were coming in lighter than most and that finishing them longer would make a big difference. That conversation helped us a lot.
Going forward, we’ll be keeping animals longer so they reach a better finishing weight. That means more meat per animal and more cuts available each time we restock.
We know empty inventory on the website can be frustrating to see. It’s frustrating for us too. But this change will help improve supply over time.
Every animal we raise matters to us. We want to use each one to its fullest potential and respect what they provide. Our farm and our business exist because of these animals, and we’re grateful for them every day.
