Good Ranchers Review: A Dietitian’s Perspective

What Is Good Ranchers?

If you’ve never heard of the meat delivery service Good Ranchers, maybe you’ve seen them before. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they traveled the country and set up in big box store parking lots to sell American steaks and other meats.

They were well known for their “20 steaks for $29 deal,” which consisted of 20 4-ounce steaks. Their advertised deals could often draw in large crowds, giving them the opportunity to upsell customers on larger meat packages.

They are now an exclusively online meat marketplace, offering a variety of meat packages including American beef, chicken, and seafood.

Unlike some other meat delivery services, they also individually vacuum seal each serving of meat — which makes it easy to cook small dinners, make an exact number of portions, and limit food waste or leftovers.

They also donate 10 meals to American food banks or charities for every box that is purchased.

Product Quality

According to the Good Ranchers website, all of their meat is 100% raised, slaughtered, butchered, and delivered within the United States.

Their beef is grass-fed and grain-finished, which offers health advantages over exclusively grain-fed beef and taste advantages over exclusively grass-fed beef.

Grass is the most natural diet for cows, and therefore helps them stay optimally healthy. The resulting meat is richer in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats than grain-fed meat, but also leaner.

Finishing grass-fed cows with grain feed allows them to develop some additional fat and marbling, which improves the taste and texture of the meat. (1, 2)

Their website also states that all of their beef is aged for at least 21 days.

Finally, they note that all of their beef cuts are graded “Prime” or “Choice” by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These are the two top grades for marbling and quality. (3)

Additionally, Good Ranchers describes their chicken as “Better Than Organic.” However, there’s little information about exactly what that means. Here’s what their website says about their Better Than Organic chicken:

“When sourcing our chicken specifically, we wanted to be better than the Organic standard. Instead of sourcing from Organic farms that do the minimum to earn a label, we wanted to work with farms who do the most to earn your trust.”

Their website also states that they use 100% pasture-raised American cornish hens with no added hormones or antibiotics.

They also note that their pork is Heritage Berkshire and that their seafood is “caught, cut, and packaged at sea” and “green-rated for sustainability.”

But there are no other details about the quality of their pork or seafood on their website. (Additionally, there are no pork products available on their website at the moment.)

Some reviewers have stated that their Good Ranchers shrimp appeared to be from Costa Rica. Although the website is very clear that their beef and chicken are U.S.-raised, it’s not clarified on the website where their seafood is sourced from.

Boxes Offered

Here are the different boxes offered by Good Ranchers, and what each box contains. Currently, they have no options to order individual meat items or to build a custom box.

Rancher’s Classic:

• 2 (17 oz) bone-in steaks (T-bone or New York strip)
• 4 (8 oz) sirloin strip steaks
• 6 (5 oz) Signature steak burgers
• 16 (5 oz) pre-seasoned or plain chicken breasts

New Year Bundle:

• 4 (16 oz) Angus bone-in ribeyes
• 5 (6 oz) Angus top sirloin steaks
• 3 (10 oz) Angus boneless New York strips
• 6 (5.33 oz) American Wagyu steak burgers
• 2 (17 oz) bone-in steaks (T-bone or New York strip)
• 4 (8 oz) sirloin strip steak
• 6 (5 oz) Signature steak burgers
• 16 (5 oz) pre-seasoned or plain chicken breasts

The Cowboy:

• 4 (16 oz) Angus bone-in ribeyes
• 5 (6 oz) Angus top sirloin steaks
• 3 (10 oz) Angus boneless New York strip
• 6 (5.33 oz) American Wagyu steak burgers

The Cattleman:

• 2 (17 oz) T-bones or bone-in New York strip
• 5 (6 oz) hand-trimmed filets
• 6 (5 oz) Signature steak burgers
• 5 (6 oz) top sirloin steaks
• 3 (10 oz) New York strips

Family Feast Bundle:

• 2 (17 oz) T-bones or bone-in New York strip
• 6 (6 oz) hand-trimmed filets
• 6 (5 oz) Signature steak burgers
• 5 (5 oz) top sirloin steak
• 3 (10 oz) New York strip
• 40 (5 oz) chicken breasts, 8 each of Mild Italian, Garlic Pepper, Fajita, Assorted, and plain

Better Than Organic Chicken:

• 40 (5 oz) chicken breasts, 8 each of Mild Italian, Garlic Pepper, Fajita, Assorted, and plain

Prime Seafood:

• 2 (8 oz) skin-on, boneless rainbow trout filets
• 4 (8 oz) skin-on, boneless Atlantic salmon filets
• 4 (8 oz) skin-on, boneless, wild-caught Pacific snapper filets
• 4 lbs of peeled, deveined organic shrimp

Cost

Good Ranchers is more expensive than buying meat from the grocery store, and in fact, their prices rival those of services that offer organic and fully grass-fed meats, like ButcherBox.

Here’s what each different Good Ranchers box costs:

• Rancher’s Classic: $154
• New Year Bundle: $779
• The Cowboy: $498
• The Cattleman: $320
• Family Feast Bundle: $319
• Better Than Organic Chicken: $124
• Prime Seafood: $144

Note that these are the full, non-sale prices posted on the Good Ranchers website.

However, they seem to frequently have promotions on various boxes that allow you to save up 40%–55% percent — making the price for some of the more expensive boxes much more reasonable.

Shipping is free. Subscribing is optional, but will save you an additional 20% on each order. According to their website, you can cancel anytime online.

Who Is It For?

Good Ranchers would be a great fit for people who want an easy way to stock their freezer with meat, especially if you’re OK with grain-finished beef and non-organic chicken.

It’s also excellent for small households of one or two people since all of their meat comes vacuum-packed in individual portions. These single portions can help eliminate food waste and potentially save money since meat is typically the most expensive part of a meal.

Finally, you may want to consider a Good Ranchers box if it is important for you that all of your beef and chicken is grown and processed in the United States.

Who Is It Not For?

On the other hand, Good Ranchers is not a good fit for vegans or vegetarians because the only products they provide are meat.

However, their Prime Seafood box would be appropriate for pescatarians — who consume fish and seafood but no other animal products.

Additionally, Good Ranchers is fairly expensive. You can expect to pay more for meat from Good Ranchers than you would from your local grocery store.

Finally, if you’re concerned with product sourcing or meat quality, Good Ranchers may not be the best choice. Much of the information available on their website about meat quality and sourcing is vague, like their definition of “Better Than Organic” chicken.

Customer Reviews and Brand Reputation

One important thing I want to draw attention to is the number of poor reviews for the Good Ranchers service.

It’s normal for all businesses to have some bad reviews, and even for many review sites to be filled with mostly negative reviews (since people who are satisfied with their experience are less likely to review).

However, I noticed a couple of concerning trends in the negative reviews for Good Ranchers. It’s important that you’re aware of these before you decide to place an order.

Shipping Problems

While reading through the reviews, I noticed several recent complaints that people weren’t receiving their orders, that they were shipped to the wrong place (in multiple cases, a completely different state), or that there were long shipping delays that weren’t accurately communicated.

Difficulty Contacting Customer Service

I also noticed several reviews with the same complaint — it was nearly impossible to get in touch with customer service.

After doing some digging on their website myself, I was able to find both an email contact form as well as a phone number. However, recent reviews say that their emails were not responded to, and their calls were left unanswered.

Meat Quality

Unfortunately, there are also many negative reviews regarding the quality of the meat. Customers report that the portions are smaller than claimed and that the meat is chewy, lacking in marbling, or gristly.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t try Good Ranchers if you want to try their meat or stock your freezer, but it’s something to be aware of. There are plenty of good reviews mixed in with the bad.

How Good Ranchers Compares to Alternatives

Good Ranchers is one of many meat delivery services that offer subscription meat boxes. Here’s how they compare to Good Chop and ButcherBox.

Good Chop

Good Chop, like Good Ranchers, specializes in American meat and seafood that is hormone and antibiotic-free.

Their prices begin at $149 for 36 portions, and they offer a variety of cuts — including cuts that aren’t offered by Good Ranchers, like roasts, ribs, bone-in chicken, and whole turkeys.

They offer 100% grass-fed beef for an extra fee, and all of their beef is rated USDA Choice or Prime.

Additionally, they offer organic, free-range chicken for an extra fee.

You also get to choose the specific items you want in every box. It’s a good fit if you want American meat but also want to choose the exact items in each shipment.

ButcherBox

ButcherBox offers high-quality, sustainably-sourced meats like grass-fed beef, pastured pork, organic chicken, and wild-caught seafood.

In addition to curated meat boxes, they offer a custom option that allows you to choose the meats you want.

Their prices begin at $159 for 9–14 pounds of meat.

While their meat is not necessarily 100% U.S.-grown, it is all high in quality. If quality and transparency is your primary concern, then ButcherBox would be the better choice for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

Good Ranchers is a meat delivery service that offers 100% American beef and chicken, along with seafood. Their beef is USDA Prime or Choice, and their chicken is pasture-raised and hormone-free.

Their curated boxes contain vacuum-sealed individual portions, which is helpful for small households and for reducing food waste. However, they don’t currently offer any ways to customize your shipments.

Good Ranchers has also received some poor reviews related to shipping, customer service, and meat quality.

The meat is significantly more expensive than meat from the grocery store, but you may be able to purchase higher quality meat from other companies at a similar price.