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Matt Hall and Ben Borg split half a cow between their two households and have been impressed with the quality and cost savings. (Source: Supplied) <\/p>\n Matt Hall and Ben Borg split half a cow between their two households and have been impressed with the quality and cost savings. (Source: Supplied) <\/p>\n
Two Aussie mates say they\u2019ve been able to enjoy \u201cunbelievable\u201d food and save on grocery costs<\/a> by teaming up to buy meat in bulk<\/a>. There\u2019s a growing interest from consumers who are keen to \u201ccut out the middle man\u201d and buy meat directly from farmers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Melbourne dads Ben Borg and Matt Hall recently split half a cow<\/a> between their two households. Borg, a nutritionist and gym owner, said he had been thinking about giving supermarket meat from Coles<\/a> and Woolworths<\/a> the flick in favour of higher-quality butcher meat.<\/p>\n \u201cBut [I was] obviously noticing it was far more expensive, depending on what we were effectively trying to buy,\u201d Borg told Yahoo Finance.<\/p>\n RELATED<\/p>\n Hall, who works in tech, was no stranger to buying meat in bulk, having grown up in the country. So when Borg suggested they order half a cow to split, he was \u201call in\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a growing family, we\u2019ve got three girls. Grocery bills<\/a> are going up all the time. The quality of food is really important as well. The economics of buying in bulk and buying from the farm door [made sense],\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n \u201cI also like the idea of cutting out the middleman as well and the supermarkets, and supporting a small business owner and buying direct.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com<\/a><\/p>\n The friends purchased half a cow from Farmstead Meats, one of a number of paddock-to-plate style meat businesses<\/a> that have emerged in recent years.<\/p>\n Butcher Jeff Renfrew co-founded the business with Southern Highlands farmer Andrew Johnson about a year ago and has seen revenue grow 200 per cent month-on-month.<\/p>\n He said the pair saw space in the market to offer meat “direct from the farm”, with a growing interest from Aussies to know where their meat is coming from.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems to have gotten to the stage where to be able to buy something that\u2019s of good quality, it\u2019s almost out of reach,\u201d Renfrew told Yahoo Finance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other options are people buy things that are mass produced and it loses its integrity in the food chain.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still not necessarily that affordable anyway anymore. It used to be that it was cheap, but it\u2019s quite expensive now for what you\u2019re getting.\u201d<\/p>\n Prices for beef and lamb were 13 per cent higher compared to 12 months ago, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data<\/a>. That’s compared to annual inflation, which was up 3.7 per cent. The annual rise was attributed to strong overseas demand for Aussie red meat.<\/p>\n Story continues <\/p>\n Farmstead Meats sells half a cow, or 100 kilograms of meat, for $1,699.<\/p>\n To buy comparable cuts of grass-fed meat at Woolworths<\/a>, the business calculated it would set you back roughly $2,504. At Coles<\/a>, it would be $2,500.<\/p>\n That means households could save roughly $800, or $400 each if split between two families.<\/p>\n Renfrew acknowledged it was a \u201cbig investment\u201d at the start, but the meat could generally be kept frozen for 12 months.<\/p>\n Like Borg and Hall, Renfrew said he was seeing a community aspect, where people were buying in bulk<\/a> and splitting it with families or friends.<\/p>\n Borg ran his own \u201cback of the napkin math\u201d comparing the price with the cheapest available cuts at the supermarket and found he was saving hundreds.<\/p>\n \u201cAt worst, it\u2019s saving you at least $200. But if I was comparing it to more grass-fed, organic, if it was a quality for quality match, it would have definitely increased the spend difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Borg said he noticed the quality was \u201cinstantly different\u201d to the usual meat he buys at the supermarket<\/a>. He\u2019s also enjoying the variety of cuts and the fact that you get things like bones and tallow included.<\/p>\n \u201cThe taste was unbelievable. I was expecting it to be better, but probably not as noticeably better than it was,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hall said he was previously spending around $350 per week on groceries<\/a> for his family of five, but that has dropped down to the $280 to $300 range since having the bulk meat on hand.<\/p>\n The pair bought their first half a cow back in January and ended up buying another one recently when their households finished the meat after a few months.<\/p>\n Doing it together has meant they halve the upfront cost, and it\u2019s also been an enjoyable experience for the friends to share.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was fun to do it with a mate. Matty will have us over at Christmas and he\u2019s always firing up the barbecue too,\u201d Borg said.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have had enough space at home for a half cow, so going in with Ben and getting half of a half each was more workable from a fridge space perspective as well,\u201d Hall added.<\/p>\n Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Farmstead Meats co-founder Jeff Renfrew says there’s a growing interest from Aussies to understand where there meat is coming from and to get quality meat at an affordable price. (Source: Supplied) <\/p>\n
Half a cow includes fillets and steaks, sausages and patties, mince and extras like bones and fat. (Source: Supplied) <\/p>\n
A look at the types of cuts you can get when you buy in bulk. (Source: Farmstead Meats) <\/p>\n