For ChopLocal customer Greg Leichty, there are many reasons why he prefers purchasing his meat through this Etsy-like meat store. He’s quick to point out that he loves grocery stores and won’t stop shopping at them, but he prefers the ChopLocal model that allows him to support small meat producers in a much more direct and intentional way.
Leichty grew up in a farming community and worked on farms as a kid. Today, he lives in Denver, Colo., but has stayed connected to agriculture through friends and family who continue to farm. He says it’s provided a window into the struggles that farmers face in pursuit of running a smooth operation delivering high-quality products to market.
“For me as a consumer, if I can use a service that connects me directly with family farmers, I feel better about my purchase knowing that it’s directly supporting that family farmer. But beyond that, it’s also helping to support a more resilient food chain that places a higher value on smaller famers that can be more nimble in turbulent times,” Leichty says.
Although he thinks there’s a big market for consumers who would like to support farmers more directly, he admits there’s a lot of friction involved in doing that right now.
“ChopLocal is building a model to reduce that friction and make it easier for people who want to buy meat to source it straight from farmers and butchers,” he adds.
Greg Leichty believes buying meat online directly from a family farmer helps support a more resilient food chain.
Quality Matters
Because Leichty cooks a lot of meals at home, he’s grown to appreciate high-quality cuts of meat. When he discovered ChopLocal would ship nationwide, he decided to give it a try. After creating an account on the website, he could browse for the items that appealed to him.
“I took some time to look through the vendors to see what they specialized in and where they were from, which was fun to learn about. I had some recipes in mind that I wanted to cook, so I was looking for some specific items, and then I was also inspired to make some other dishes while browsing the available products on the site,” Leichty says.
Of course, the best part of his online meat buying experience was “biting into the short ribs after an overnight stay in the crock pot.”
All jokes aside, he says the experience was very straight-forward, from browsing for products up until the package was delivered. He encourages other people to try it because it gives the customer the power to directly support farmers and growers, whether they already know them or learned about them through ChopLocal.
There’s no question he will continue to shop online for meat. Not only does he like supporting family farmers in a direct and intentional way and putting his dollars toward a more resilient supply chain, but he also believes in ChopLocal’s mission.
“I think that ChopLocal identified a gap in the market and I hope to see it grow to allow more consumers to have this higher-level of choice and the option to be more knowledge about the products and people who produced them when they purchase the food that they put on their table,” Leichty says.
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