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The Hatfield family uses
direct marketing to ensure year round production and sales. |
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THE HATFIELD FAMILY
OREGON NATURAL BEEF
There were two pioneers in the direct marketing beef business:
Mel Coleman of Coleman Beef, and Doc and Connie Hatfield of Oregon
Natural Beef. Mel basically modeled his production system after
the conventional market and had mixed results (for a more detailed
analysis, read his book Riding the Higher Range). The Hatfields,
however, truly blazed their own trail.
In a nutshell, they created a cooperative of producers who promise
a certain number of cattle during different parts of the year. These
cattle are then fed out and slaughtered, with the owner retaining
ownership. At slaughter, the slaughter house buys the beef for conventional
prices, but stores the beef separately from their conventional beef.
The Hatfields then get on the phone to their clients and take orders
for that week. With orders in hand, they then buy back as much of
their beef as demand will allow from the processing facility. Then
they pay the producer a premium for the amount of beef they were
able to sell.
The nice part of this model is that there is a steady supply of
fresh beef and a guaranteed sale. At the very least, you’d
get what you would have gotten by selling your cattle conventionally.
Finally, it makes producers more conscious of the product they offer.
STRENGTH: Year-round production, guaranteed sale
WEAKNESS: High production/start-up cost
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