Subscription meat supply start-up Our Cow has acquired key business assets of Sydney direct delivery groceries business Voly which went out of business in November.
Our Cow founders Bianca Tarrant and Dave McGiveron have bought the Voly business name, customer list and online app from receivers for an undisclosed sum. The entrepreneurs, who are based near Casino on the NSW north coast, expect the assets to help them broaden their sales in Sydney.
Tarrant and McGiveron run a weaner cattle-raising property. They have experienced droughts and floods and ups and downs in cattle prices. This made them realise that, wide fluctuations of saleyard cattle prices flow on to much smaller variations in retail meat prices. In 2019, they decided to start a Facebook page offering direct to consumer meat orders. Demand soon outstripped their capacity to supply from their own property, processed by a local abattoir and butchery. They started signing up other producers in the region and, within a few years, had developed a subscription meat supply business that they say now turns over around $20 million a year.
Our Cow provides meat boxes with combinations of beef, lamb, chicken and pork, delivered directly to subscribers.
The company raised $2.5 million via crowd-funding in 2022 and is about to launch a similar raising on the Birchal platform. This will fund further expansion expected to be generated by marketing to the Voly customer base.
Meanwhile, in the inner city direct-to-consumer grocery delivery sector, competitor closures have left Milkrun, which is backed by US hedge fund Tiger Global, in a dominant position.
Image: Bianca Tarrant and David McGiveron on their Deep River property. Photo credit – Elise Derwin/ SMH.