Our Story

We have a great story to tell...

One that may compel you to give Oregon Natural Meats a try. The story has many parts, beginning with our mission statement.

Our Mission Statement

Our Mission is to supply Locavores with high-quality natural meat products for restaurant, retail and consumer use, using sustainable farming practices, local supply sources and upcycled feedstuffs. We create customer satisfaction through providing superior natural products and after-the-sale services to customers in close proximity to our corporate headquarters in Eugene, Oregon.

Our Core Concepts & Business Principles

Buy Local - Our entire business is built around local animals, local people, local suppliers, and local customers. We source our animals from farms and ranches in Oregon; feed and finish those animals using a combination of local pastures and upcycled grain from local micro-breweries; process our cattle into meat at a local facility in Eugene, Oregon; distribute and sell our products using local people and companies. Our support services, including banking, web hosting, graphic design, printing and marketing are from local companies. If you are a Locavore, we are the natural source for your Natural meat.

Eat Natural - Natural has come to mean many things to consumers. For us, Natural represents an integrated production methodology involving selecting Oregon animals that have been pasture raised through weaning; free of added hormones; without the use of sub-therapeutic or therapeutic antibiotics; and minimally processed. Our animals are raised under humane conditions, fed a 100% vegetarian diet, and properly cared for by local farmers and ranchers who fit our program concepts and business principles. Natural does NOT, however, have to be synonymous with low quality. Our Natural meat products are high quality with superior workmanship, finish and flavor.

Support Sustainable Agriculture Systems - Producing high quality meat while reducing our carbon “Hoof Print” is a primary goal of Oregon Natural Meats. We accomplish this through several innovative practices, including:

  • Upcycling of locally produced brewer’s grain. We upcycle over 11 million pounds of spent brewer’s grain from local micro-breweries, turning the waste grain, which is normally destined for landfills, into high quality cattle feed and resulting in high quality meat. Oregon Natural Meats uses brewer’s grain from several breweries in the Eugene, Bend and Portland areas. That translates into about 920,000 pounds per month, 30,666 pounds per day, 1,278 pounds per hour, or 21 pounds per minute that we prevent from going into landfills and other disposal systems.
  • Conservation & preservation of natural resources. Our animal raising and finishing systems focus on upcycling and reusing natural resources that would otherwise be destined for the commercial landfill. Small-scale localized production and close management of feedstuffs and inputs reduces the waste commonly associated with commercial animal feeding systems.
  • Integrated value-based supply chains. Oregon Natural Meats and its suppliers are independent entities, yet contractually linked to support each other. We do not have a broad network of suppliers or support services, but rather support a concentrated network of small-family businesses.

Family-Owned Small Business - We are an Oregon-based family-owned small business, and we select family-owned businesses as our suppliers and partners whenever possible.

Source Verified - All of our animals and meat products will be source verified as born and raised in Oregon, as supported by producer and feeder affidavits.

Provide Service after the Sale - We understand that many of our customers do not have the technical skills to further process or cut meat items for retail and foodservice use. As a result, we will offer training and support to those who need additional assistance with proper merchandising and cutting for customer use. We also have tools available to help determine portion costs, yields and cutability of wholesale items, which we will make available to customers.