Food
Blue Nest Beef Deliver Quality Meats With A Mission
Co-Founder Todd Churchill Says Americans Have Appetite For Home Grown Grass Fed Beef
By: Jeff Walker, Business Review
Their home page says it all, ‘mind blowing flavor, with heart warming impact’. While there are many farm to table meat based delivery businesses in the United States, few compare to Blue Nest Beef, who not only deliver quality meats, but use the production process to drive real-world tangible outcomes on the land that is good for the birds. Essentially, the benefit derives from the production of the beef itself.
Formed in 2018 the Minnesota based company offers pasture-raised, grass-fed beef, to carnivore lovers who prefer to know that they are eating beef raised domestically here in the United States. Blue Nest Beef is tapping into a 21st resurgence, whereby meat lovers not only want to continue to enjoy time honored traditions of eating beef, but are becoming increasingly concerned about wildlife and natural habitats.
Safe to say Blue Nest Beef is bridging the gap between the eco-friendly and meat lovers. The emergence of plant based products similar to beef has not deterred Blue Nest from forging ahead, as they’ve seen an uptick in the marketplace for their products. Overall the demand for grass-fed beef doubled every year from 2013 to 2016, becoming a near half billion dollar industry by 2019.
When the pandemic began to unfold in early 2020, Blue Nest Beef co-founder Todd Churchill says the company stayed ahead the curve to meet potential demand. “When the meat shortage occurred at the beginning of the pandemic, people stockpiled their freezers with meat. Because Blue Nest Beef operates outside the traditional supply chain, we were able to serve our customers’ needs without disruptions.”
According to Churchill, fast paced life styles have helped fuel the company’s boom. “People lead busy lives but also want delicious meals that can be prepared at home. Blue Nest Beef is the perfect blend between nutritious, great-tasting meat and convenience. We deliver the best beef and chicken you’ll ever taste, right to your door.”
Societal norms the way they are today, with diet and health conscious baby boomers and millennials rethinking the foods they eat, and serve their families, it’s no wonder companies like Blue Nest Beef are becoming all the rage. If you want to set yourself apart, while encouraging the natural hunger for beef and other meats, than you have to further whet the appetite of carnivores who have real concerns about animal welfare, clean water, soil conservation, and regenerative farming. Blue Nest Beef is catering to that demographic.
On the surface eating beef from grass fed animals, and poultry from free roaming chickens sounds delicious, but Blue Nest and others in their industry often have to adhere to strict guidelines. While the consumer is happily dining on Blue Nest’s products, the company continues to champion for regulations that ensure their products are 100% raised and processed in the United States.
An Obama administration rollback in 2015 allowed for meats that may have come from outside the US, and processed here to be labeled product of the USA. However, Blue Nest Beef make certain all of their meats carry only the American Country Of Origin Label, or COOL, an industry standard that designates where meats originate from.
Consumers can rest easy, knowing the meats they eat from Blue Nest Beef have come from approved ranches in the United States. Many of Blue Nest’s cooperative ranchers come from the Dakotas. Through their partnership with the National Audubon Society, Blue Nest has qualified ranchers, making certain the ranchers provide green acres, cage free spaces, utilize modern equipment like feeding accessories and electric butter churn, and comply to no hormones or antibiotic use.
Churchill admits, a large group of meat lovers want to ensure the products they consume come from American farmers. “The customers we talk with want their dollars going to American ranchers. When you buy meat in the store, it’s not always easy to know where your money is going. We give people a clear path to support American ranchers who are being good stewards of their land and the environment.”
Regarding their overall reach, he adds, “Blue Nest Beef has purchased from seven ranches in South Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma so far. These seven ranches make up just over 200,000 acres.”
While most meat lovers don’t normally dwell on all that goes on behind the scenes when they are enjoying beef and chicken, it’s nice to know that there are companies out there that care about the environment, and natural habitats. Additionally, while many meat eaters often can’t distinguish between the quality of the burgers, steaks, chicken they’re eating, it always taste better knowing meat processing companies such as Blue Nest Beef dedicate funds, and resources to conservation efforts and bird sanctuaries.
Conservation efforts help set Blue Nest Beef apart says Churchill. “More than half of the grassland bird population has been lost in the last 50 years. Most grassland birds live on farms and ranches, so we need farmers, ranchers and bird lovers to be part of the solution.” Churchill adds, his company is bridging the gap. “We saw Blue Nest Beef as a way to bring everyone together.”
Blue Nest Beef believe our friends in flight are a big answer to any future food chain concerns. “Birds are the treasure and the measure. They are the symbol to help guide us on our mission to help fix a broken food system. Wildlife is the judge of how well that is being done, and birds are the best form of validation.”
The best way to try their products is to get a Blue Nest Sampler Box, which comes with a little bit of everything. You’ll get select steaks (ribeye & sirloin), and roasts “wet aged” for 35 days adding extra flavor & tenderness, as well as burgers they promise will ‘Wow’ you, and two whole chickens that will remind you what chicken really tastes like.
For $199 straight up, you get the sampler box with enough meat to feed a small army, or a hungry family. I’ve cooked the steaks and burgers inside and outside, and I strongly urge preparers to cook them over charcoal, wood, or gas grills. If you marinate and season the meats just so, cooking over a coals or flame just brings out that ‘beefy panache’.
If you want advice on how to prepare their meats, the company offers cooking tips on their website. You’ll learn how to prepare Sweet Onion or Green Chile Burgers. Want to spice up that dinner for two. Impress your better half with a nice serving of Top Sirloin Chateaubriand. It’s an easy-peasy French recipe that will blow you away. Live life on the edge.
Just think of Blue Nest Beef is your new online butcher. No matter what cut of beef you can imagine, Blue Nest Beef have it. They carry every meat eaters favorites, including sirloin, ribeye, and NY strip. Are you a slow cooker in the kitchen, maybe try their brisket and chuck roasts. Their flat iron steak will satisfy those who crave leaner cuts of meat.
Competitive pricing, quality product, home-grown American meats, as well as providing habitats for birds are the main impetus behind Blue Nest being met with instant success.
“We’ve found that people choose Blue Nest Beef for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, they want to enjoy the best meat they’ve ever tasted. Additionally, our customers choose us because they want to support American ranchers, have a hand in restoring the disappearing grassland bird habitat and they are looking for a reliable source of meat that is convenient to get.”
All their positive karma aside, Churchill says there is one underlying theme that feeds the company’s recipe for success. “Healthy grass is our secret sauce. It all goes back to how the cattle are raised. Because grass-fed cows live longer and are more active, their meat is more flavorful. You’ll notice the difference in that first bite.”
To take a bite for yourself, or to find out more about Blue Nest Beef, and all the wonderful things the company is doing for birds of the air, and greener pastures on American soil, check out their website at https://bluenestbeef.com/