While MacFarlane Pheasants may be the largest producer of adult birds and day-old chicks in the U.S., we also conduct a vibrant business in pheasant meat. From some of the highest-end restaurants in the country to specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods, we supply pheasant products to them all, and it’s this area that we’d like to expand. To do this, we’ve begun pursuing USDA certification, expanding our product line, and increasing exposure in our community.
To be clear, all of our meat products are state-inspected for safety, which allows us to ship meat across the country. We also have stringent in-house inspections for quality control and annually pass third-party audits, all of which helps ensure that our customers continue to come back for a high-quality product. But in order to ship meat internationally, the one thing that’s held us back is USDA certification. It will require some changes in how we do things—USDA inspectors must have a standing office space from which to work from, so that will require us carving out space. And it also will likely require us to make some minor changes to the methods we currently use in meat production. But last year we had 20,000 birds USDA-certified for an order in Japan, and we’ve also received interest from Mexico and Canada. The time is now for us to expand overseas, and we’re just waiting for compliance with the USDA, which should be wrapped up in another month or two.
Another way we’ve begun to expand our food market share is by expanding the food products themselves. On the 27th of September our ground pheasant meat will be available online and in our retail store. We’re thrilled about it, as it’s an incredibly versatile and healthy substitute for ground beef. The other product line we’re excited to launch is our line of pheasant bratwurst, which should be available in the next month or two just as football season is in full swing. These are healthy options for snacking and parties. Both of these products show our innovation and commitment to expanding our customer base and challenging the country as a whole to take a fresh look at pheasant.
The final way we’re expanding is through our annual Tantalize Your Taste Buds event at our retail location on September 27. The concept is simple and delicious: our team cooks up the gamut of our meat products and offers free samples to those in attendance. If you’ve never tried pheasant before and live near our Janesville location, this is a great opportunity to try pheasant the right way. It’s also a way for us to engage our community and showcase some of our new products.
MacFarlane Pheasants may be the biggest, but that doesn’t mean we’re satisfied. Through our community engagement, product innovation, and pursuit of USDA certification, we’re excited about the future of pheasant meat in the U.S. and around the world. This year our goal is to process 180,000 birds for our meat products; pending certification, we’d like to hit 250,000 by the end of next year. It’s ambitious, but we’ve got a plan, and we’re moving toward it every day.
