Australian paddock-to-plate home food delivery service Our Cow has rolled out a same-day delivery service for Sydney metro customers, with the company aiming to be able to offer same-day delivery to doorsteps in all Australian capital cities within 12 months.
The northern NSW-based meat delivery subscription startup, which delivers grass-fed beef, organic chicken, free-range pork, and grass-fed lamb through its own meat processing facility in Casino to over 6,000 regular subscribers, was founded by young farmers Bianca Tarrant and Dave McGiveron in 2019 after they nearly lost everything in Australia’s worst droughts and the Black Summer bushfires.
Today, Our Cow supports more than 150 farmers across Queensland and NSW and is now generating around $20 million of annual recurring revenue from over 50,000 customers.
May was Our Cow’s best month on record with growth up 15% from the month before and up 103% from the same period last year. The company’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since inception is 142%.
Speaking to SmartCompany, Our Cow co-founder Bianca Tarrant said right from the start both founders knew they had a winning idea but were overwhelmed with the support from customers.
“We sold six cattle in the first month and demand rapidly grew to the point where we started to bring in other beef producers. We offered a generous set price for their animals which, for many, was a welcome relief from fluctuating prices they were getting at the sale yards. It also helped producers plan because they knew what price they were going to get for their cattle before they were even born,” she said.
“Our customers started asking for grass-fed lamb and free-range pork and chicken so we started adding new suppliers. Then they asked about wild-caught seafood so we partnered with Queensland fishing co-operative Noosa Junction Seafood to sell their wild-caught snap-frozen local seafood. The day we launched it we sold nearly 300kg worth of prawns!”
Our Cow started carving out a point of difference by supplying premium products that consumers couldn’t buy elsewhere, says Tarrant. This included Doonkami lamb, which comes from a new Australian sheep breed called Aussie Whites, and quail from Brisbane Valley Farm Direct, which is used by more than 100 top restaurants in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong.
Tarrant says this week’s launch of the same-day delivery service in Sydney was driven by customer demand.
“It felt like the last piece of the puzzle — we knew customers loved the products, they just wanted them faster and now we are able to deliver that,” she says.
From Tuesday, June 13, if an order is made by midday, Our Cow will deliver it by 9pm at the latest to addresses in metropolitan Sydney.
“Australians really care about where their food comes from and the quality of it. They also care deeply about those in the bush. There is a unique connection people in Australian cities feel with those on the land that I don’t think exists in other countries,” adds Tarrant.
“Our success is as much about us as it is about the farmers we work with. It shows just how much consumer interest there is in the quality of food and its origin. It’s been wonderful to see how much Australians really care about supporting local farmers and to give them a way to support farmers every day through their food choices.”
Our Cow now has over 50 staff working across the business with an abattoir in Casino in Northern New South Wales and a warehouse in Sydney’s Banksmeadow.
The Sydney launch has capped off a particularly successful six months for the startup, which includes the acquisition of the business assets of grocery delivery startup VOLY and, most recently, the online business of Brisbane Valley Farm Direct.
The startup also successfully raised more than $2 million via the equity crowdfunding platform Birchal in March, with $1 million of that total raised within the first day of the campaign.
At the same time, other food delivery platforms have faltered in the past 18 months, including SEND, Quicko and Milkrun, with the latter’s brand now owned by Woolworths.
With the company continuing to double down on its nationwide expansion, catering to the growing demand for locally sourced, sustainable food options, Tarrant said Our Cow is working towards offering same-day delivery in all Australian capital cities within 12 months, while also continuing to invest in new equipment and extending its range of products.
The Our Cow leadership team has also been strengthened, says Tarrant, with entrepreneur and co-founder of property tech platform Archistar Robert Coorey now leading the company’s board.
“This year we’ve completed a crowd fund, bought the business assets of VOLY, the online business of Brisbane Valley Farm Direct, opened a warehouse, and launched a fresh seafood range and we plan on keeping up this pace!”
