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www.luciesfarm.com Meat Digest
You have arrived at this webpage through several different paths: How ever you arrived here, welcome. The demand for Scottish | Kobe beef is quite small. And the supply is quite small. It's always difficult to match a small demand with a small supply, and get it right. This is complicated by the fact that some cuts of beef, and of Kurobuta pork, are more popular than others. And the challenge is made greater by the fact that we can't just send out an e-mail and get more beef. The whole process is slow and patient: even after the steer goes down the long green mile, the beef is aged a further 21 - 24 days. To give you an idea of the problem, the whole fillet in an average Scottish | Kobe steer or heifer weighs about 3 kg --- or around 0.5% (
a half of one percent) of the 550 kg live weight of the animal. It's very expensive to raise our pure-bred cattle on their luxurious diet of grain and beer, and to give them a massage three times each week. And it's just not cost-effective for us to send a steer or heifer down the long green mile for just the fillet.
Perversely the speed at which we can sell the Scottish | Kobe mince and joints --- both of which comprise a much larger percentage of each animal --- determines how quickly we can ship fillet. We do our best to manage our yields to minimise (or ideally eliminate) the waiting times for each of our customers. But we have learned that raising cattle in the Kobe style is definitely more art than science, and these things can't be rushed.
We made the mistake (once) of sending a steer before it reached its optimum weight. While the meat was delicious, the fat had not marbled as much as we would like. We learned the lesson, and do not send cattle until they have reached perfection. We have tried to keep our e-commerce site up-to-date with current availability and delivery times, but this became confusing for our customers. This article, therefore, contains the most current figures, and we will update it regularly, whenever there's a change. At one time we maintained a "waiting list" of customers who wanted various cuts of beef or pork. But we're a small, boutique farm and we don't have the administrative task necessary for such an undertaking. A couple of years ago we adopted a simple procedure: we now fill all orders in the order in which they're received. To get into the queue, an order must be placed and payment made. Since we implemented this system, our customers have been much happier and we've made fewer mistakes. If you're in the queue and you've lost patience with us, we (of course) offer our sincere apologies. We are always prepared to issue a full and prompt refund. If that's what you'd prefer, please don't feel bad about asking us. If you have any questions, or if we can be of assistance in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best to help. If ordered today our current shipping estimates are as follows:
A word about shipping . . As much as we would like to deliver each shipment personally, this just isn't practical or cost-effective. So while we've done our best to raise the best possible meat, we are dependent upon the last link in the chain: the courier driver. We carefully select the courier companies we use --- not who's the least expensive, but who provides the best service. And sometimes this means that we need to change courier companies. We will not ship an order until our customer has confirmed that someone will be available at the shipping address to sign for the parcel. All of our shipments are perishable, and while they're sent packed in special shipping ice, they are not sent by refrigerated truck. (We've looked into that option --- way, way too expensive on shipments smaller than a pallet load.) Our shipments should withstand an extra day in transit, but it's best to have them delivered, without incident, on the agreed delivery date. We can, if requested, send a shipment so that the driver will not insist upon a signature upon delivery. In these cases, neither Lucies Farm nor the courier company can be responsible if the parcel then goes missing. If you'd like to use this service, please let me know. And please give me any special instructions (such as leave in porch, leave in garage, etc.) so we can relay them to the courier company. We send all of our shipments via DHL with guaranteed morning delivery. On all orders of under £200.00, shipping costs £16.00 plus VAT. Shipping is complimentary on orders over £200.00. In many cases, if a shipment isn't delivered we do not have more fillet steaks or picanha back at the farm to send out a replacement. So it means that the customer will need to re-join the queue, and we find that heartbreaking. So it's important that someone is on hand to sign for the parcel. (Sod's Law dictates that the driver will arrive during your shower, or during the few minutes that you just nipped off to drop the kids off at school. We suggest leaving a big A4 sign on the door, "Back in five minutes.") I'm sorry for all these twists and turns. We are working constantly to increase our herd size in an effort to eliminate, or at least minimise, wait times. We try to plan ahead for Christmas, etc. --- but we can sometimes be surprised by a newspaper article or TV programme that mentions Kobe beef or Kurobuta pork. This will cause an unexpected "spike" in our orders. Please contact us if you have any questions, or whenever we can be of assistance. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Lucies Farm Ltd. Registered in England - Company Number 03521405 - Registered Office: Whitecroft, Colletts Green, Worcester WR2 4RY - Telephone 44-1905-830-380 |
