Zaycon Foods takes on big grocers
So who is Zaycon Foods and what are they doing? Zaycon Foods brings the drive-through concept to a whole new industry. They offer a drive-through meat market which delivers to nearly five hundred sites in forty eight states. I know, it sounds a little weird, but they call it “a good weird.” And if you think about it, short of raising the meat yourself, everything you buy from the grocery store comes in on trucks. So, realistically, they have simply cut out the middle-man. Actually, they have done more than that. By cutting out the middle-man, Zaycon picks up fresh, hormone-free, chicken, beef, ham, bacon, and fish from ranchers and farmers as little as one day before they deliver.
Why are we discussing meat on a business site? Zaycon Foods has done something fascinating – they offer one product at a time, at a pre-selected location which gives them the power to demand the best prices from the ranchers/farmers and they pass that savings along to their customers. So not only are they offering the best prices, but also, convenience; because when you order online and go to the pre-selected pick-up destination, you pull in to the parking lot and someone loads your purchases in to your vehicle for you. No getting out, no grocery store hassle.
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Cost savings, environmental impact
They are dominating their industry by giving customers a way to not only save 50 percent or more off retail prices, but also, fresher products with reduced environmental impact. Craig Rominger, founder and chairman of The Post Harvest Project, an organization that is honoring Zaycon Foods this year, states, “Zaycon Foods is a prime example of the positive effect that supply chain ingenuity can have on both customer satisfaction and the environment. Zaycon Foods’ ‘zero’ waste, direct-to-customer model is revolutionary and their customers can be confident that they are buying from an environmentally friendly company; they have done something remarkable in an industry desperately in need of change—they deliver food to 250,000 customers with zero waste. None of the retail grocery chains can make this claim.”
And this is what sets this apart from their competition: better prices, better quality and zero waste.
Zaycon works because they keep it simple. They pre-sell online, so they do not have to spend company money before receiving a shipment of meat. Also, the company does not have to handle the raw product, so there is no cost there (in packaging or handling). Using the pre-selling model, the company was able to start inexpensively (sound familiar? KickStarter is a pre-selling model of sorts, too). Zaycon employs twenty five people (along with extra commercial drivers when needed) and manages inventory through their website.
The takeaway: “prices bring them in, but quality keeps them coming back.” Sounds like a good business motto.
