An online delivery meat subscription service has launched a crowdfunding campaign on the back of 1200 per cent growth in 12 months.
The service was established by farmers Bianca Tarrant and David McGiveron, Baryulgil, NSW, after bushfires and floods, impacted their northern NSW property.
The couple began delivering meat box subscriptions via social media to avoid the uncertainty of market price fluctuations.
Not too long after, they worked with other farmers to help distribute meat grown on their farms to deliver to consumers in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne with plans to expand to other states soon.
The business is now estimated to be worth $30 million, with 100 farmers across Queensland and New South Wales supplying them and more than 40,000 customers on their books from around the country.
During COVID, the business grew 1200 per cent in 12 months and boasted a 90pc retention rate with customers.
"We were pretty lucky during COVID... and saw quite a lot of growth in our business throughout the pandemic where there was a definite trend of people not being able to get out and farmers really becoming comfortable with online ordering and having that food delivered," Ms Tarrant, who is a chief executive in the company said.
The success of the model has even led to marketing campaigns where new subscribers now can get free life-time bacon with their membership.
Those farmers and customers are now being asked to financially invest in the company, with a campaign launched last week to bring on new investors.
The campaign, run with the assistance of crowdfunding platform VentureCrowd, aims to raise $3 million, with the company having raised nearly half of that target in 12 hours, with investors able to give $250 as a minimum.
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"For us, it's about investing in the future of food," Ms Tarrant said.
"We're transparent in what we do, and I think people gravitate towards authenticity and knowing where their food comes from,"
"A lot of our farmers have already shown interest in investing and becoming a business partner because it secures their future as well."
Ms Tarrant believes there is a growing trend of shoppers who want to source their meat directly, and a core ideology of the business is telling them where it comes from, which also resonates with customers.
The response has been "really amazing".
"It's pretty amazing to also think about where we started - off the back of a horrendous bushfire and drought - and the business came out of a necessity to start selling our meat online, and it's just grown exponentially since then," she said.
"It wasn't something that we initially thought of when we started, but it's just been a roller coaster."
As for the future, she said that her direct-to-customer business model could co-exist with local butchers in her region and the meat industry can expand to still cater to customers who engage in traditional ways of buying their meat.
"There will always be a need for butchers, and not everybody wants to order online, so I think we definitely can coincide in the marketplace," she said.
