Sometimes the "outdated" model is the one that actually works.

dressed cattle traded 355 to 365 last week & choice cutout is 373 today. thats a thin gap for the packer, so dont expect them to eat it. cattle stay this high, grocery beef stays high. somebody pays for it & it wont be the packer

Forgot the card reader charger. Town of 500, cash only for 3 hours & you could watch people walk up, check their wallet & leave. Gas station down the road had one for way too much. Checking the bag twice from now on.

brick & mortar butcher needs a lease, a buildout, and people walking by. a truck needs a lot owner who says yes & a tank of gas. thats why I can test a new town on a Saturday & leave if it flops

people ask about the beef. the part nobody asks about is the cold chain. frozen product sitting in a texas parking lot all day has to stay frozen, period. thats what keeps most people from trying this, selling is the easy part

Generator wouldnt start this morning. Sat in a dark lot in a town of 900 with a flashlight in my teeth for 40 min. Got it going at 7:20 & the first guy in line had been parked there since 6:45 just watching me. He gave me a thumbs up like nothing was wrong.

cow & bull slaughter thru thursday was about 82k head, down 23% from this time last year. cows are where most of your ground beef comes from. ranchers are keeping females back to rebuild the herd so burger stays tight, dont wait on cheap hamburger

212 miles to a town of 600. Lot was empty when we got there at 7 & I wondered what I was doing. By 10 we had 22 people in line & a lady brought us coffee without being asked. Still hate the drive tho.

everybody wants to scale fast. I'd rather be in 40 towns where people know my face than 400 where they know a logo. town that trusts the guy at the table tells 10 other people, a logo doesnt get that

Town of 1,400, we pulled in at 9 and 3 trucks were already parked waiting. Older guy asked if we take cash. Yes. He said good, my wife dont trust the internet. Left with 2 boxes & a jar of her pickles he went back to the truck to grab.

select cutout jumped 6.20 yesterday & choice only moved 71 cents. gap between them is down to 17 a hundredweight. cheaper grade catching up doesnt mean cheaper beef at the store, shelf price wont budge either way. ask what grade youre buying, most places dont say it loud

Carried a bag of ice out to a lady's car today because her cooler was a cardboard box. 40 min drive home, 88 degrees. She said it'd be fine. I said ma'am no. Town of 700, nearest Walmart 30 miles so I get why she didnt plan for it. Free ice from now on.

repeat customers are the number I watch at a pop-up. new faces are fun but the guy back for his 3rd box is why we return to a town. first visit mostly covers gas, 2nd visit is when I know the town actually works

Ever backed a truck into a church lot with a guy waving you in from the wrong side? Took 4 tries. Whole line stood there & watched every one. Nobody left tho, 2 of em even offered to spot me on try 5.

81% lean ground beef was 3.35/lb wholesale on yesterdays USDA report. grocery shelf avg is around 6.79. roughly 3.40 a pound gets added between the plant & your cart, and ground is the cheap stuff. every grocery guy says margins are thin, ok then who's keeping the 3.40

ad dashboards give you a number for everything. the truck gives me a line of people & no clue how any of them heard. and the line is the one I trust more, dashboards love taking credit for sales that were gonna happen anyway

One stoplight town today. Older guy paid for his box out of a coffee can, all small bills, counted it twice right there at the table. Came back 40 min later with 2 buddies & said tell em what you told me. I dont even remember what I said.

packers ran 553k head this week vs 535k last. choice cutout 372 & dec live cattle 228. they're paying up for cattle to keep plants full while the box goes nowhere. somebody eats that squeeze, and usually it ends up on the grocery shelf not the packer

9 year old picked the box for his dad today. Read every label on the table, asked what chuck roast is for. I said pot roast, 3 hours low. Mom just held the wallet & watched. They came back at close for a second one, he wanted to try the brisket.

scaling pop-up retail is about finding good lots, not buying more trucks. great lot with a beat up trailer still sells out & a bad lot with a brand new truck just burns gas. we spend way more time scouting than anything else

"Is this the same beef as the grocery store?" Lady asked me that in a town of 800, 9am, kids in the back seat. I said look at the marbling & decide. She bought 2 boxes, then came back at noon with her sister. Sister bought 3.