I started selling grass-finished beef in 1994 for a company that’s no longer in business. Since then, I’ve sold grass-finished beef for several other programs as a broker, trader and as a distributor that buys and sells grass-finished beef.

I’ve sold far more grain-fed beef in my career, but there’s always a chef or restaurant owner out there who wants to try grass-fed beef out on the menu.

I use the term "grass-finished" and not "grass-fed," because I’m talking about beef that has never been in a feed lot. Some in the beef community say that most fed beef can be called "grass-fed," because for most of the animal’s life they are eating grass in pastures.

I know many restaurants that sell grain-fed beef on their menus while promoting it as "grass-fed" beef. When pressed, the chef uses this vague "grass-fed" definition. “All beef is grass-fed,” is a common refrain.

It’s for this reason that many grass-finished brands use both "grass-fed" and "grass-finished" in their product descriptions, to distinguish their product from some misleading labels.

I certainly do appreciate and understand the fact that many grass-finished brands and producers are trying to differentiate their beef from the large conventional grain-fed beef programs. Some of these brands like to tout their sustainable ranch story, their low-impact environmental footprint, and even their superior nutritionals compared to grain-fed beef with increased Omega 3 and 6 levels (even though, with careful comparison, you’ll see the differences in nutritionals are miniscule).

I blogged last year here on Meatingplace about my success with the keto diet. During my investigation of keto and paleo diets, I listened to many podcasts by nutritionists, doctors and others in health care that all promote grass-finished beef over grain-fed beef. For some it’s the nutritionals, for others it’s the animal’s quality of life or the environmental impact, and for the majority, they just don’t approve of the saturated fats that develop in grain-fed beef that comes from GMO corn in feedlots.

Grass-finished beef has quite a following these days in the nutrition, keto and paleo worlds. But my experience for nearly three decades of selling grass-finished beef has remained largely frustrating. Here’s my short list of obstacles:

The quality of grass-finished beef is inconsistent from one week to the next, even from the same program.
Many of the programs aren’t really 100% grass-finished when you start investigating the claims and visiting the ranches to see what the animals are eating.
Much of the grass-finished beef is imported but is then cut into steaks or ground here in the U.S., so it carries the "Product of USA" claim. These lower price points obtained by importing beef from South America, Australia and New Zealand ruin the price structure needed to support true USA- bred, -born and -raised programs that must compete with these imports that are often disguised as domestic.
Some USA-produced grass-finished beef comes from culled dairy cows that are fed in a feedlot and they are not “grass-finished.”
Even when I’ve had success getting grass-finished beef into restaurants the product doesn’t stay on the menu long.

Perhaps my experience is unique. After nearly three decades of selling grass-fed beef, I’ve only had one brand perform well in the market.

Have you had the same issues with grass-finished beef? Have you found any programs that offer consistent quality?

Twenty-seven years of frustration selling grass-finished beef

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