|
Buffalo gals, won’t
you come out tonight?
Based in rural Kansas, The Buffalo Guys are "going out direct" --
producing buffalo meat and selling it to customers all across the U.S.
Co-founder of the business, Ken Klemm, was managing ranches in Colorado
when he started working with buffalo. In 1999, he and his wife Laurie
and family bought a place called the Homestead Ranch in Sherman County,
Kansas and started raising buffalo of their own. But two things
promptly happened: A drought hit, and the buffalo market broke. Ouch!
So Ken started seeking alternative ways to market his buffalo by
reaching directly to customers. First it was in selling locally to
farmers' markets. Then he tried selling buffalo meat to four- and
five-star restaurants. Then he set up a Web site and started shipping
buffalo products directly to people's homes.
Today the biggest part of the business is supplying buffalo products to
grocery and health food stores. Ken's partner is Peter Thieriot, who
had buffalo ranches in Wyoming, but has since bought neighboring
ranches to Ken's place in Kansas. Together, they are The Buffalo Guys.
The Buffalo Guys offers USDA-inspected All Natural Buffalo Hot Dogs,
Buffalo Sausages, tasty Buffalo Jerky, Buffalo Steaks, Buffalo Burgers
and Buffalo Roasts. These are truly all natural products. They come
from range-raised buffalo without antibiotics. The Buffalo Guys do not
feed animal byproducts or use growth hormones or artificial
preservatives.
The first product that The Buffalo Guys developed had a catchy name:
Buffaloaf. It sounded to me like a lazy bison, but it was actually a
flavored meat loaf. Although the product did not catch on and was
discontinued, Ken says that they still get calls for it two years
later. Meanwhile, demand for their main buffalo products continues
strong.
Buffalo meat is lean, and as a result it scores favorably lower on
cholesterol, fat and saturated fat when compared to beef, pork,
skinless breast of chicken and even most fish. The health appeal of the
product and the environmentally friendly production methods have
contributed to the demand for buffalo meat.
In addition, The Buffalo Guys offer ribs, tenderloin, and many packages
of cuts. Then there are all the additional items, such as dog bones,
recipes, seasonings, and even official t-shirts, gloves and aprons.
Today, The Buffalo Guys are shipping their products coast to coast,
mostly to health food stores and upscale mom-and-pop natural food
stores. In Ken's office is a map of the U.S. with pins showing the
locations of stores to which they deliver across the country. There are
some 1,200 pins all across the country, with an additional 20 or 30
being added each month. Wow.
About half the buffalo is produced on Ken and Peter's ranches, and the
other half is produced by growers who raise them to The Buffalo
Guys’ specifications.
Ken says, “The business really started in my basement out at
the ranch, but when I needed to hire somebody to help me, I figured
that they didn't want to go out to my basement.” That's when
Ken moved the office to Goodland.
Ken also offers buffalo hunts on his ranch in rural Sherman County
where a person can participate in an escorted hunt for trophy bulls,
prime cows, or more. The ranch is 18 miles north of the town of
Goodland, population 4,775 people. Now, that's rural.
Ken and Peter are branching out to offer breeding stock and grass-fed
buffalo meat to customers as well.
|
