Meat start-up cools ‘rapid expansion’ talk
Luxury meat delivery service Urban Meat Co has been trading for less than a year, but has already cracked Australia’s capital city Canberra and, last month, started selling in Sydney.
While disruptive technology like Uber and Deliveroo have become popular with consumers by offering services at the tap of a button, the boss of Urban Meat Co is focused on refinement.
“Rapid expansion is not what we are chasing,” the firm’s director Patrick Madden told this site.
“We are focused on refining our systems, our offering and our packaging. Most of all, we want to build trust with our clients and the various beef producers we work with.”
Calm and considered progression
The e-commerce start-up works with a select range of premium producers to supply restaurant-quality vacuum-packed steaks to shoppers once a week: Canberra deliveries arrive on Tuesdays, Sydney deliveries on Wednesdays.
The business began by trialling its network of deliveries in Canberra, gradually increasing distribution month-on-month in the city. Sydney is only three hours’ drive from Canberra and was a “natural progression” for the business, said Madden.
Demand is building for the business, but it is not planning to expand production to Australia’s most populous city, Victoria, as yet, despite having expressed an interest in doing so in December 2016.
‘Competitive prices’
At the moment, “we are building trust with our target audience,” said Madden.
“The biggest challenge the business faces at this stage is the lack of a bricks-and-mortar store. Butchery is a very traditional industry and a lot of people like to visit their local shop and see products before they purchase them. However, by building trust with our customers, they definitely do see the benefits of having this sort of product delivered directly to them.
“Ultimately, we are selling a premium product at competitive prices, packaged beautifully and efficiently delivered. Our customers know that while they may not get that face-to-face interaction, they are getting superior products at a good price, delivered directly to their door.”
