My team and I have ordered from just about all meat delivery services available on the market. If you like premium beef but hate going to the grocery store only to end up with not-so-fresh, low quality cuts, sourcing meat from a meat delivery service is the best way to go. Take Crowd Cow, for example.
Boasting high-quality beef and sustainable options like seafood, bison, and Wagyu beef, their juicy steaks instantly caught our attention. Ever the skeptic, let's see if they're worth subscribing to in this comprehensive Crowd Cow review.
What Is Crowd Cow?
Crowd Cow is a subscription-based meat delivery service company located in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 2015 by Ethan Lowry and Joe Heitzeberg, and among its investors are Joe Montana and Ashton Kutcher.
As the brand name implies, the idea was to crowdfund a cow's purchase so that multiple people get to share in one cost. They wanted to purchase a cow directly from a ranch without storing a year’s beef supply in the freezer.
Crowd Cow has expanded into an online meat store and sold a full range of pasture-raised meats, specialty protein meats, plant-based options, as well as seasonal items, sides, and desserts.
Over time, Crowd Cow shifted to a membership model, offering customers the convenience of a subscription with total flexibility and greater savings. Customers still have the option to place one-time orders (including gifts).
- 100% grass-fed, pasture-raised meat
- Humanely-raised without added hormones
- Wide menu selection
- Flexible shipping options
- Customizable meat orders available
- A little pricey
What Are The Menu Options?
Crowd Cow sells a large selection of high-quality grass-fed meat from local ranchers and independent farmers. As you’ll see on their site, they offer several meat options and meat cuts that would suit your kitchen needs.
Some high quality meat options you can order in large quantities are:
- Grass-fed beef - New York strip, filet mignon, boneless Ribeye, dry-aged steak, sirloin tip steak, ribeye steak, skirt steak, beef pork, strip steak, ground beef, etc.
- Seafood - black cod, wild Maine lobster, Alaskan halibut, Atlantic sea scallops, Norwegian salmon, etc.
- Pork - Heritage pork, pork chop, bacon
- American Lamb
- Pasture-raised grain-fed beef - Ribeye, New York strip steak, tenderloin tips, tomahawk steak, chuck roast, ground beef, dry-aged steak, kobe beef
- Japanese and Domestic Wagyu Beef
- Bison - ground bison, ground bison grill box, bison bratwurst
- Pasture-raised chicken - whole chicken, chicken breast, and many more
Upon seeing their menu for the first time, we were impressed with their big inventory of meat and seafood products as well as curated items. No wonder why Crowd Cow became one of our favorite meat delivery services.
Crowd Cow Shipping
Like other meat box services, Crowd Cow delivers to all US areas within a designated amount of time. The restrictions on delivery of agricultural products are also aptly followed (1).
You will even get free shipping if you buy a meat subscription box worth at least $99. For all other boxes, the shipping costs you pay will change based on the quantity you're ordering and your area. All Crowd Cow beef boxes that you get will be
How Does The Quality Compare?
Since Crowd Cow sources their grass-fed and pasture-raised meat from independent farmers and co-ops worldwide, the quality of their meat is evidently high.
To prove this, we conducted a taste test on their New York Strip Steak. It was still frozen when we opened the package. The cut we ordered came to be around ¾ to 1 inch in thickness, just as we had expected.
While I typically prefer fresh steak, I found this particular cut to be of great quality compared to the ones I buy from the grocery store, especially for its price.
With good marbling and small pockets of fat, we found it easy to trim and cook. It has an ideal balance of lean and fat, and the size of the steak is just right.
According to Crowd Cow's policy, each specific cut of meat they source must first go through flavor experts to ensure consistency for a good meal experience at home.
Taste of the Beef - We decided to grill the steak after rubbing it with salt, pepper, and a little bit of olive oil, and we ended up with a medium-rare steak with a slight crisp on the outside.
The meat had a strong and bold beefy flavor which we all really liked. It is moderately tender and dense, but still with a little bit of chew. Overall, we were satisfied with how it turned out and we would definitely order more on our next box.
How Does Crowd Cow Work?
Crowd Cow works by offering both subscription-based pricing and one-off purchases on their website. Their prices depend on whether you get a subscription service for a few months or choose to pick and buy meat per pound or two.
Here are some of the bundles you can choose from:
Custom Box - This is a great way for you to try cooking your favorite types of meat that you and your family can share at home. You can get and make anything from a list that includes salmon, chicken, pork chops, various types of beef ribs, roast, and ground beef.
Steak Lover’s Share - This is a great box for people who really love eating steaks. You can try cooking four different cuts in each package, like flat iron steaks, short ribs, ribeye, sirloin steaks, and New York strip steaks. And yes, they have bone-in Ribeye steak and filet mignon steak, too.
Japanese Wagyu Box - If you want more beef, we recommend this as a better and sure option.
This box comes with 12 oz or 14 oz of different types of Japanese Wagyu. It's a special type of beef that has a lineage traced back to Japan.
It is well-known for its great marbling that gives it a truly tender texture and delicious, buttery taste that you may love. Based on reviews, the production of Wagyu is heavily regulated to ensure quality. For the highest grade of A5 Wagyu, you can also check out Holy Grail Steaks.
For every meat subscription box, you'd get a 5% discount on the prices plus free shipping for orders above $99. Compared to buying individual meat cuts, this is a much better way to save money.
When using Crowd Cow, keep an eye on their official website and read email alerts for current sale products. You may also avail of special seasonal sales during holidays. Promo codes and coupon codes are also available from time to time.
CROWD COW SHIPPING
Like other meat delivery services, Crowd Cow delivers to all US areas, except Alaska and Hawaii, in as few as 2 days once they leave the fulfillment center. As of the moment, they don’t offer express shipping options. The restrictions on the delivery of agricultural products are also aptly followed (1).
Every time you buy a meat subscription box worth at least $99, you will get free shipping. For all other boxes, the shipping costs you pay will change based on the quantity you're ordering and your area.
Our first meat subscription box worth $139, which was shipped for free, arrived after 3 days from ordering. We found it more cost-effective to buy a meat subscription box to save on shipping fees since their meats are generally more expensive than store-bought ones.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there might be changes in their policy. For added information, links are available on their site.
How Are The Items Packaged?
Our order was neatly placed in a box with biodegradable, water-soluble foam and dry ice inside to keep the meat completely frozen. I appreciate how each meat was vacuum-sealed with soup bones and wrapped in butcher paper to preserve its freshness and quality.
Overall, the packaging kept the meat frozen while using 100% eco-friendly and recyclable materials (2). In addition, the box included a handwritten note which details the specific sources of the meat I bought which made me feel good for supporting small and independent farms.
Spread of disease from factory farming is exacerbated when waste products, including manure and the remains of animals who have died, are used to feed livestock being raised for meat.
- Gene Baur, National Geographic
Crowd Cow Pricing
Even though reviews around will be quick to point out that Crowd Cow can get very expensive, we figure that their prices are mostly reflective of their meat quality.
Because the ranches and farmers they work with are all smaller and standard-focused, the cost of each cut of meat came to be a bit more than the prices you would normally find at most grocery stores, like choice beef, for instance.
An example is their different beef options which are all pasture-raised and for seafood, all responsibly caught. The price difference per pound is justifiable when we consider the types of meat, the way it’s sourced, the flavor of each cut, and the waived delivery fees.
The first meat subscription box we ordered was totally worth it at $139, especially since we saved a lot on shipping. You are paying for the premium taste, convenience, and transparency of the sources, which you don’t get from any other store.
Ease of Delivery
We also like how things get easy during the ordering process. Crowd Cow's online subscription service brings frozen meat delivered to our door to help us save time. We worry less about going to the store every few days to get our favorite order of meats, especially in times like these.
Throughout this COVID-19 pandemic, we can just order or send an email every month or two months.
When we tried to order, we only needed to approve the email we got to confirm each product in our next box. Then our shipment order would be good to go. We appreciated how fast their customer service responded when we did a follow-through.
Crowd Cow Consistency
During our review, we found a couple of main benefits to using Crowd Cow. People who have been focused on the carnivore diet for years (and like to review meat dishes) mainly benefit from the consistent life supply of fresh and high-quality meat to help us stay on track.
Like Snake River Farm and Fossil Farm, each meat cut has a fat content that's close to zero, and a little meat box of ground beef also goes a long way for a year or two.
They do the guesswork of finding meat from sustainable farms, which often tends to be one of the most challenging aspects of the carnivore diet itself.
From the two meat subscription boxes we ordered for the past 2 months, our ordering and shipping experience as well as the quality of meat has been remarkable on both times.
We were a bit concerned with the difference in meat quality since some of our orders came from four different farms. Surprisingly, we haven’t noticed any obvious difference in terms of quality, making our overall Crowd Cow experience worthwhile and enjoyable.
Additional Benefits of Crowd Cow
- Save you extra time by making fewer trips to the grocery store
- You'll see how they use dry ice to keep your order frozen
- Quality meat purchases from small family farms
Our Only Complaint
There is only one drawback we've seen so far, and that’s their pricing. However, with the way they source their premium products, it is natural to expect them to be a bit more expensive than your local grocery store.
After doing a taste test, we believe the variety you get to choose from and how they collaborate with family farms and small farmers balance this cost per box.
Meat Delivery Service Alternatives
ButcherBox
ButcherBox is a subscription-based meat delivery service from Boston that offers high-quality, grass-fed beef, heritage-breed pork, free-range organic chicken, and wild-caught seafood. It does not have a wide and varied selection as Crowd Cow, but it certainly tastes better than most meats you find in grocery stores (plus free shipping for as long as you’re a member!).
Moink
Based in Missouri, Moink is another subscription-based meat delivery service that provides high-quality, ethically-raised, grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured pork and chicken, and wild-caught salmon. It only has one customizable meat box available at $159, but it's totally worth it with the quality and taste of meat you get at free shipping.
Omaha Steaks
Omaha Steaks is one of the oldest meat delivery service businesses that ships high-quality steak, lamb, veal, turkey, chicken, pork, and seafood straight to your front door. It has an excellent selection of meat and seafood, but it lacks transparency when it comes to meat quality, sourcing, and USDA grading so you won't be certain with its quality. But if you're not satisfied with your order for any reason, they would be glad to replace or refund your purchase.
FAQs
Does Crowd Cow take EBT?
Not yet. Crowd Cow does not accept EBT or Food Stamps at the moment. They only accept major US and Canadian credit cards as forms of payment. You may also use Apple Pay.
How do I cancel my Crowd Cow subscription?
You may cancel your membership anytime through your membership page so long as it hasn't been shipped yet. You'll also get a notification when your Crowd Cow order is close to the delivery date to make adjustments.
Is Crowd Cow Worth It?
After our taste test and reading through hundreds of Crowd Cow reviews, we believe that they are worth it. We tried two of the three Crowd Cow meat subscription boxes, and both were consistent in terms of quality, freshness, and taste.
We were very impressed with their wide meat selection and flexible delivery options, especially with their two-step ordering process, which saves time and adds to the convenience of using the service.
On top of that, the order came with a list of independent partner farms where each meat was sourced, which ensures that it meets the company’s high quality standards.
Overall, we believe Crowd Cow is a great option if you want high-caliber meat delivered consistently to your front door.
Recommended Meat Delivery Service
Crowd Cow
- High-quality meat delivered right to your door
- Humanely raised without antibiotics or added hormones
- Customizable meat orders available
- Select from up to 21 different cuts
- Get the BEST PRICE until the end of this month
- Cons
