My Food Job Rocks! Ep. 196 – [Live at SKS] Selling Premium Meat Products Online by Joe Heitzeberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Crowd Cow
Joe Heitzeberg is the CEO and Co-Founder of Crowd Cow, an e-commerce site that sells premium meat. And when I say premium, I mean meat straight from the farm, or Japan!
We all hear about the innovations of alternative meat, plant-based or cell-based meat all over this podcast so I was delighted to interview a new perspective in the way we view protein, the fact that you can not only find out where your steak comes from, but how it was raised, what breed it is, and it’s delivered straight to your door.
As long as it reduces the system in how we farm animals now, I’m all for it.
Learn about how Joe pivoted the business from actually crowdfunding a cow, to building out a way to sell Wagyu beef to his customers. And most importantly, learn how innovation doesn’t have to be a new method of making meat, but maybe just showcasing old methods using modern technology.
SponsorThe Cultured Meat Symposium is taking place in San Francisco on November 14-15th. Join experts from science, food, and tech industries to discuss the future of food. Join speakers from Aleph Farms, Finless Foods, Memphis Meats, Wild Type, IntegriCulture, VOW, the American Meat Science Association and more. Use coupon code MYFOODJOBROCKS20 for 20% off General Admission tickets.
I’ll be there with a mobile podcast studio. See you there!
Show NotesIn a sentence or less: We help consumers know the source of their meat Why online? We can bring a richer experience than in the grocery store Why is the meat better?: The type of meat and what they eat is much higher quality. They’re well-taken care of Why did you start Crowd Cow?: When an Entrepreneur in Residence, one of my friends was bragging about getting a cow. I went to the farm with him and saw just how different it is to get a cow We first started with crowdfunding one cow, it was fun and engaging but in reality, it didn’t work Wagyu/Kobe Beef – called Koroge Washu, genetically, the marbling is different. We had to get it. We called the slaughterhouse in Japanese and asked them to sell us meat. I had to visit them to get their business. Why Does Your Food Job Rock?: I love learning the process and the consumer feedback What do you think about plant-based and cell-based?: Imitation is flattery. However, I agree that the industrialization of meat is an issue that they are trying to solve. We also have a way to fix it. People want an alternative to factory farming What’s the biggest challenge right now?: Reach and brand recognition Favorite resource: Badass: Making Users Awesome Any advice for entrepreneurs?: Keep one foot in front of the other, you’re farther than you think Also, be around people with founder empathy Until you’ve convinced someone to do things for free with no resources or brand, you’re not an entrepreneur Where can we find you for advice?: joe@crowdcow.com What’s your favorite beef right now?: We just launched an Iwate Wagyu beef. Even the less-marbled cuts taste amazing Are you sharing the efficiencies of your model verses factory farming?: Yes How can you get away from the commodity system?: The people who sell commodity meat don’t know or care about how special the beef is, we do
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