Local Meat Delivery: 5 Best Practices

If you’re a local farm, butcher, or meat market, offering online orders and local delivery is a great way to reach new customers in your community and boost sales. While not as complicated as selling meat nationwide or internationally, local meat delivery still requires careful planning to get right.

With years of experience developing solutions for fresh food e-commerce, we’ve gained some unique insights into what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to shipping meat. Here are the top things you need to know to ensure your local meat deliveries are safe, fast, and popular with customers.

First Things First: Know FDA and USDA Guidelines

Local butchers and meat markets should be competing on quality and customer service, not cleanliness. If a customer complains that your meat shipment arrived spoiled, you’ll be dealing with a negative review in a best-case scenario and a complaint to a regulatory agency at worst.

While it can be a bit overwhelming, spend time getting familiar with the FDA guidelines for transporting food. These guidelines cover the aspects of food shipments that regulators keep a close eye on, which can help you set a minimum standard for your shipment processes.

The USDA’s mail-order food safety tips are also a helpful read because they lay out the various red flags customers should look for when receiving food. In other words, make sure your shipments tick none of the boxes on their list.

The most important warning signs that USDA says to look out for are:

Improper or non-insulated packing materials
Slow delivery speed
Temperatures above 40 °F

Avoiding these mistakes is the first step to safely ship meat locally and nationwide.

5 Best Practices for Local Meat Delivery

Food safety should be top of mind — but it’s not the only thing that creates an exceptional customer experience. Great local meat delivery services combine smooth logistics, clear communication, and (of course) great quality food.

Here are five best practices to ensure your local meat delivery business is a hit with customers.

1. Use the Correct Packing Materials

Even though a local shipment isn’t traveling as far as a cross-country one, that doesn’t mean you can be lax in your packing practices.

Use insulated box liners and appropriate cold pack materials to keep shipments cold. Some cold pack manufacturers recommend using at least one pound of cold packs for every two pounds of meat. Also, understand when to use different materials for frozen and unfrozen meats.

Keep in mind that packing an individual meat order and a mixed order (e.g., a subscription box) should be handled differently. Make sure individual cuts of meat are packaged in a way that keeps them cold while avoiding cross-contamination.

2. Don’t Offer Free Shipping for Standard Orders

Many retailers use free shipping to lure customers into making a purchase. Some set relatively low order thresholds (e.g., orders over $30) to unlock free shipping.

It’s a great strategy, but not always a good fit for fresh food delivery. Even for local delivery, the timing and care put into food shipment requires a higher standard. Like it or not, these services and packing materials come at a premium. Unless you want to rack up significant losses on shipment costs, free shipments aren’t worth it.

That said, that doesn’t mean you should never offer free shipping, you just need to set a higher order threshold. Use your e-commerce or point of sale (POS) system to understand the profit margin for different order amounts. Then you can set it so customers are automatically offered free shipping when they order over your preset threshold. This is a great upselling technique for customers who prefer to order in bulk.

3. Use Eco-Friendly Packaging to Stand Out

As a fresh food supplier, both the food itself and how you pack it will contribute to how people see your brand. In other words, if you talk about your ethical and sustainable farming practices often, but opt for single-use plastics in your shipping, it creates a conflicting message.

Sustainability is a high priority for many customers, especially those who are looking for local alternatives to big-brand grocery stores. When possible, use eco-friendly packing materials such as compostable boxes or recyclable insulation.

These materials are better for the environment and popular with customers, helping your business stand out from other local meat sellers.

4. Be As Transparent as Possible

It might seem unnecessary to provide constant updates on shipments that are only traveling a few miles — but that’s not the case. Keeping customers informed and being transparent about the process is an effective way to gain trust and loyalty.

Use your e-commerce tools to send out automated texts and emails to customers when:

The order is placed
The shipment is prepared
Payment is processed
It’s with a carrier or out for delivery
When it’s delivered

Don’t forget to communicate when something goes wrong. Customers will notice if a shipment is prepared but doesn’t go out promptly. Monitor orders for any irregularities and quickly get in touch with customers to explain the issue or offer solutions.

The occasional problem is inevitable. Just remember, how you address it is almost more important than the problem itself.

Labels are another effective tool to communicate important information with customers. Print labels that include things like:

The actual weight and costs of any catch weight items
The date and time the shipment was packed
Who packed the item
Any modifications or adjustments (with an explanation)
Storage and preparation instructions

Including this information will preemptively answer any questions a customer might have. The time the shipment was prepared and by whom help cement how fresh the food is in a customer’s mind.

5. Leverage Inventory Management Software

Imagine this: A customer puts in an order for four sirloin steaks, a pork butt roast, and a two-pound bag of chicken thighs, only to find by the time it’s ready, the shipment has two steaks and a pound and a half of chicken wings.

It might be an honest mistake on your part, but how likely is that customer to order with you again?

Effective inventory management is essential for meat markets making the transition to online sales. It ensures that you always know what’s in storage and that customers are getting an accurate view of stock levels.

Leading fresh food e-commerce platforms have advanced inventory management features built in. These features ensure that your sales, website, and inventory tracking tools are all in one place.

If you’re in the process of looking for an inventory management solution for your business, check to make sure it supports:

Weight-based inventory tracking: Sell by weight functions ensure that you can keep an accurate record of how much of a cut was sold and what poundage remains in storage.
Real-time inventory tracking: See accurate inventory levels the minute an order is processed and set low stock reminders to avoid stockouts.
Combined in-person and online sales: Ensure your stock levels are accurate regardless of whether you’re selling in person, online, or both.
Customizable SKUs: Create custom product bundles without adding needless complexity to your backend.

With the right inventory management tools, your local meat delivery business won’t be blindsided by unexpected stockouts or a lack of visibility.

Simplify the Way You Sell Fresh Meat Locally With an E-Commerce Platform

Like any business expansion, offering local meat deliveries for the first time might come with some growing pains. But by taking the time to establish consistent processes — including using industry-specific technology — you’ll be up and running in no time.

Then, once you have the basics mastered, you can expand your business even further with promotional offers, marketing, and other customer outreach to help boost sales.

If you’re ready to get started with online sales and local delivery, we’re here to help. GrazeCart specializes in working with small to mid-sized farms, meat markets, and grocers, giving them the tools they need to build a website and start expanding their business with online sales.

Start your 14-day free GrazeCart trial today, or take our perishable food course for a deep dive into food shipment best practices.