ABOUT

OUR STORY

OUR BEGINNING

Four Dads. One Unified Vision. Better Meat for Every Table.

Origin Provisions was started by four dads from the meat industry who all wanted the same things: more affordable, highly nutritious food for our own kids, and careers that leave the world better for the generation coming up behind us.

Four careers, same conclusions

Between the four of us, we've spent our professional lives at nearly every point across the beef supply chain: ranching, meat processing, pet treat manufacturing, and regenerative agriculture verification. We crossed paths through our jobs, became friends, and eventually realized we'd been circling the same idea from four different directions.

A brand built to honor the land, the animal, the rancher, and the person paying for dinner

Our friendship and shared vision turned into a brand that carries our deepest values: honor the land, the animal, the rancher, the consumer, and future generations.

Those are easy words to write. The best way we felt we could actually deliver on them was beef that is 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, regeneratively raised, and nutrient-dense and priced so more families can actually afford to buy it.

Moving the masses away from conventional feedlot beef

The vast majority of beef in this country comes from a feedlot. Most companies that sell grass-fed beef will demonize all conventional beef. We don’t. The system has serious negative side effects, but we understand why it exists and we’ll tell you what no one else will…some of it tastes really good, and for decades it has sold cheaper than most of the highly processed foods sitting just a couple of shelves away. So you caught us; we’re pro beef.

However, we deeply believe that authentic 100% grass-fed beef is truly a SUPER FOOD. We want as many people as possible to have the choice to add it to their daily eating habits. We believe that cost and accessibility are the biggest barriers to its scaling. We think a huge swath of consumers would choose grass-fed beef if it was close to the same price as conventional beef. However, we think it’s unrealistic that we’ll turn most of America into puritans around the beef that they consume, but we want to see the current equation shift where most people are eating grass-fed beef more than 80% of the time.

How do we lower costs of 100% Grass-fed Beef?

Most premium meat brands are built to stay niche, and they price like luxury goods. We’re building the opposite. We pay our livestock producers well, and everything after that comes down to three levers: scale, vertical integration, and lower margins.

Scale: We’re focused on growing the grass-fed market as large as it can get. Scale creates efficiencies, and we hand them back in the price.

Vertical Integration: One of the 4 dads runs a beef and bison processing plant in Denver, CO. The plant prioritizes grass-fed and organic processing. Origin Provisions was started as a joint venture with this plant. As a result, we get their best work at their best prices — and that goes back into the price savings too.

Lower Margins: Beyond those savings, we chose to compress our profit margins well below industry standards. We once heard business analysts say that companies that run like non-profits often become the most successful businesses. We like that!

Why we named it Origin Provisions

We take a "keep it simple" approach to our business, because what we hear people asking for isn't complicated — it's transparency. We want the customers to have good information and make the choices that make sense for them.

Every package carries its country of origin label. Until this year, a company could legally buy beef from another country, process the primals here, and call it a Product of USA. We never did. We think that is deceptive and we choose to put the true country of origin on the package. We are proud of our livestock producers, both domestic and international. We don’t want to hide our sourcing.

Four Origin Provisions founders standing together in front of the Origin Provisions banner

BETTER BEEF SHOULD COME WITH A CLEAR STORY.

Know the source

Each meat package gets labeled with its actual country of origin

Understand the Attributes

We explain the attributes of our products clearly and plainly

Better Meat for Every Table

Real food for the tables we feed every day

NUTRIENT DENSITY 101

MORE OF WHAT MATTERS.

Grassfed beef is a healthy source of protein. It doesn't matter whether you are on the carnivore diet, eating keto, a performance athlete, or just want to feel better, eating the right amount of healthy protein for your body is a fantastic place to start. The term "nutrient density" is starting to gain popularity. Grassfed meats have fewer calories than conventional meats with more nutrition which is the definition of nutrient density.

Grass-fed Meats are shown to have the following benefits:

Lower levels of unhealthy fats & lower levels of dietary cholesterol
Better Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio
More Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
Superior Antioxidant Profiles - Grassfed meat contains more Vitamin A, Vitamin E, & carotene
Higher in B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
More minerals like: calcium, magnesium, potassium

Steak searing in a cast-iron pan with rosemary and garlic

REGENERATIVE GRAZING 101

GRAZING THAT WORKS WITH THE LAND.

When it comes to regenerative grazing the primary strategy is about using the animals to mow the grass evenly and keep it at the right stage of growth so that it is able to maximize photosynthesis and get more free energy from the sun. This style of planned grazing mimics how natural grazers bunch and move across grasslands with predators keeping them close together and moving frequently.

These are the principles that we see critical towards achieving regenerative outcomes:

Proactively Plan Grazing keeping in mind variables such as land health & biodiversity, animal performance, business resilience, and social dynamics.
Utilize an outcome-based land-health monitoring protocol. These monitoring events need to happen at regular intervals and used to optimize management on an ongoing basis.
Maximize photosynthesis by having living plants growing for as much of the year as possible.
Minimize erosion by keeping the soil covered with decomposing plant litter while also minimizing tillage and other soil disturbances.
Integrate grazing animals with cropping whenever possible utilizing permaculture, silvopasture, and agroforestry techniques.
Minimize inputs, especially synthetic chemicals, and focus on accelerating natural cycles to create resilience and abundance.

Cattle grazing in a golden grassland landscape

DEFENDING BEEF 101

IT'S NOT THE COW. IT'S THE HOW.

Sometimes it seems like the idea of eating meat or raising livestock has a target on its back. People that want to continue to eat nutrient dense animal products are vilified with the modern mantra suggesting that all meat is bad all the time.

However, there is a massive pushback happening against that narrative. A number of top selling books and documentaries have been coming out over the last 10 years to say "it's not the cow, it's the how."

In other words, how the animals are raised makes all the difference in their environmental impact. There is now a critical mass of people acknowledging that grazing animals are not only permissible, but in grassland ecosystems they are actually required to keep these biomes healthy.

Gloved hands packing vacuum-sealed beef into a shipping box

COOKING GRASS-FED BEEF 101

SIMPLE STEPS. GREAT RESULTS.

Grass-fed meat has been the norm for the vast majority of civilization. Feeding grain and other concentrates in a feedlot or CAFO is a very recent practice over the course of human history. This means there are a myriad of traditional cultural traditions to cook grassfed meat. Some cultures prefer a low-and-slow style either by braising in liquid or asado-style slow cooking. Other places have long histories of high-heat and fast cooking their meat dishes.

Tips for cooking grassfed beef:

Because grassfed beef is typically leaner than conventional beef, it is best served rare to medium-rare. If you or your family-members prefer meat that is well-done, cook the meat more slowly at a low temperature and use a sauce to add moisture back when serving.
Get your beef out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking to let it come to room temperature prior to cooking (unless you like a steak with a nice crust that is super-rare i.e. bleu, then starting with cold beef is a benefit).
Experiment with different marinades, dry rubs, and/or jaccard tenderizers to achieve the flavors and texture that you prefer.
Utilize braising techniques, slow-cookers, pressure-cookers, and smokers to maximize moisture content and flavor in the finished dish.
Always let your steaks rest after cooking. Let them sit covered in a warm place for eight to 10 minutes after removing from heat to let the juices redistribute.
Enjoy! Begin paying attention to the flavor profile of the beef. Like other craft-products (wine, cheese, beer, chocolate, etc.) each supplier will have a different flavor profile. Start developing your palette to learn what you like best.

A BIT ABOUT THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF GRASSFED BEEF:

RIBEYE

There is a reason that the ribeye is so popular. It is the cut that is the nexus of flavor, marbling, and tenderness. These steaks can be cooked at higher temperatures than other cuts while still maintaining a superb eating experience.

NEW YORK STRIP

Strip steaks are another fantastic cut of beef. They are very fine grained, a bit leaner than the ribeye, and have slightly bolder flavors than other top-tier steaks. They are delicious served simply with salt and pepper.

FILET MIGNON

The filet mignon is the most tender steak there is. It is very fine grained and has the mildest flavor profile. It is a great cut for people that don't eat much meat, or may be coming back to eating meat in their diet.

TOP SIRLOIN

Top Sirloin is still a premium steak but is more budget friendly. The steaks are relatively lean while still being very tender and juicy. These are a great option for feeding a larger family.

Steak Tips & Stir Fry Meat

Just about every culture in the world celebrates traditional dishes that have small chunks or strips of meat mixed in with vegetables and spices, sometimes over broth. This is another incredibly versatile option that stretches a budget and allows the most flexible meal planning.

GROUND BEEF

Ground beef is the most versatile beef there is. From burgers, tacos, meatballs, chili, casseroles, shepherd pies, sloppy joes - the lists of uses are quite literally endless. It is without a doubt the best bang for your buck.