Look Beyond the Label
There's more to meat than what's on the label.
You should know where your meat comes from. We do.
"Premium." "American Wagyu." "Grass-fed." "Pasture-raised." The words on the package can tell you something. We think you should know the rest. Where was the animal raised? Did it stay on pasture? Where was the meat processed? Who butchered it? How was it aged? Because the story behind the label matters.
Good words. Better questions.
"American Wagyu"
Where and how was the animal actually raised?
"Pasture-raised"
Did it remain on pasture through finishing?
"Grass-fed"
Where did the beef come from?
"Premium"
What actually makes it premium?
"Hand-cut"
Who controls the processing and butchery?
A label can start the story. It shouldn't be the end of it.
Look Closer
Great marbling isn't the whole story.
Snake River Farms is known for American Wagyu and exceptional marbling. That's one way to think about great beef. We think there are other questions worth asking too. Where did the cattle spend their lives? Snake River Farms says its cattle begin grazing on ranches and later move to feeding facilities, where its American Wagyu undergoes extended grain finishing. Porter Road makes a different choice. Our cattle remain outside on pasture throughout their lives, including while receiving supplemental feed.
Snake River Farms
Extended grain finishing in feeding facilities.
Porter Road
Pasture throughout life.
Marbling tells you about the steak. It doesn't tell you the whole story of the animal.
Look Closer
"Grass-fed" doesn't tell you where it came from.
ButcherBox markets 100% grass-fed beef. But there's another question worth asking: Where was it raised? ButcherBox states that its 100% grass-fed beef comes from Australia. Porter Road chooses to source its meat from small, family-owned farms here in the United States.
ButcherBox
100% grass-fed beef sourced from Australia.
Porter Road
Beef sourced from small American farms.
This isn't an argument that foreign beef is bad beef. It's a choice about what kind of farming system we want our business to support.
Look Closer
For us, pasture isn't a marketing term. It's where the cattle live.
Porter Road cattle remain on pasture throughout their lives. They graze naturally and can receive supplemental feed without being moved into a feedlot for finishing.
Porter Road
Pasture
Pasture
Porter Road
Cattle remain on pasture for life, including during finishing.
Typical Supply Chain
Pasture
Feedlot
Porter Road
Cattle moved to feeding facility for grain finishing.
Look Closer
What makes meat "premium," anyway?
For us, premium isn't one breed, one grade or one impressive number. It's a chain of decisions.
Premium isn't something we print on the package. It's the work behind it.
Look Closer
Even aging has a fine print.
Beef can be aged in very different ways. Wet aging happens inside vacuum-sealed plastic. Porter Road dry-ages beef in a controlled environment where moisture naturally leaves the meat while enzymes tenderize it.
The result is beef with concentrated flavor and tenderness.
Look Closer
Behind our label, you'll find actual butchers.
Porter Road operates its own processing and butchery facility in Kentucky. Our meat is hand-cut by skilled butchers who understand that no two animals, and no two pieces of meat, are exactly alike.
A machine sees a portion. A butcher sees a piece of meat.
Don't Take Our Word For It
Read the fine print.
When we tell you how another meat company operates, we don't want you to take our word for it. Take theirs.
ButcherBox
100% grass-fed beef sourced from Australia.
View Source
"Our pasture-raised, 100% grass-fed beef is from Australia—where the climate and pasture are ideal for raising 100% grass-fed cattle."
Source: butcherbox.com →Snake River Farms
Cattle move from ranch grazing to feeding facilities for grain finishing.
View Source
"When our cattle reach the right size and weight, they move to our own feed facilities where they are slowly transitioned to a balanced grain-based diet."
Source: snakeriverfarms.com →Porter Road
Cattle remain on pasture throughout their lives.
View Source
Our cattle remain outside on pasture throughout their lives, including while receiving supplemental feed.
Source: porterroad.com →All competitor quotes are verbatim from the companies' own websites. Links open directly to the source pages.
Look past the label. Then make your choice.
We don't expect everyone to care about the same things we do. But we think everyone deserves to know what they're buying. Where it came from. How it was raised. Who handled it. And what happened before it reached the package.
You should know where your meat comes from. We do.
