SEATTLE – Crowd Cow, a marketplace allowing consumers to order dry-aged, flash-frozen meat in exactly the cuts and amounts they want and traceable back to the farm, has announced an expanded list of rare and specialty meat items such as authentic Kobe beef, grass-fed bison and rare game meats. In addition, the company will offer seafood options like colossal wild blue shrimp, lingcod and Dungeness crab. The company said these new, restaurant-quality offerings currently drive more than 20% of its sales.
“Consumer shopping and buying patterns are changing when it comes to family meal preparation,” said Joe Heitzeberg, founder and chief executive officer of Crowd Cow. “Pre-COVID Americans ordered specialty meats and seafoods from restaurants. With that no longer an option, consumers are looking for DTC [direct to consumer] brands to deliver straight to their door and the suppliers that typically sell into restaurants are shifting their supply to us. Our new offerings are also indicative of the frustration consumers have with traditional grocers. From extreme price hikes to lack of supply caused by the pandemic, many are turning to alternative methods to purchase meat and seafood.”
One hundred international farms supply Crowd Cow with meat and seafood that includes premium Japanese Wagyu and heritage raised pork raised and processed by smaller, regional operations where orders are packed and shipped by their own fulfillment centers. Crowd Cow said due to this, and the quality of its products, the company has seen 4x revenue growth in the last few months.
“As we spend more time at home than ever before, interest in the foods we consume, and the sustainability and welfare of the animals, has become top of mind,” Heitzeberg added. “We’re expanding our product lines to help facilitate that deeper knowledge around the food we eat and meet current demand.”