This is a review of ButcherBox.com, it is the author’s opinion based on his experience at a given date and time. Readers should know that their experience may vary. BadgerFoodie was not compensated by anyone for writing this review. If you purchase a ButcherBox subscription from a link in this post, you will receive FREE bacon & $20 off your first order, and the author will receive a discount on future boxes if they decide to order another box. Rest assured that this does not influence the content of the review.
What is ButcherBox?
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utcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free range organic chicken and heritage breed pork directly to your door utilizing a monthly subscription model. Their meat is free of anitbiotics, hormones, and GMOs. According to their website, their goal is to make 100% grass-fed beef more accessible than ever before.
The Standard ButcherBox comes with 7-10 lbs of meat, which according to the company is enough for at least 20 individual meals (at a 5-8oz portion size), which makes the price work out to $6.50 per meal. When you order your box you can pick any combination of Beef, Pork, and/or Chicken that you prefer. What you can’t do is specify what cuts of meat you want in those different categories. In addition, each month you can add on specific items such as additional cuts of meat for an additional cost.
My ButcherBox Contents
I ordered my ButcherBox on Black Friday for a December 2017 delivery. Since it was my first ButcherBox order I received one 12 oz package of free Bacon, and the Black Friday deal included 2 free Ribeyes, 2 Free Filet Mignons, and 2 Free New York Strip Steaks.
I knew I was guaranteed the free items, but I had no idea what the rest of my order would entail. I had selected the Beef and Pork option (skipping the chicken). When my ButcherBox order arrived, it included the following items:
2 – Filet Mignon 2x6oz
1 – Baby Back Ribs Whole
3 – New York Strip 2x10oz
1 – Ground Beef Brck – 2x1lb
2 – Boneless Ribeye 2x10o
1 – Boneless Pork Chop 4x8oz
1 – Top Sirloin 4x6oz
1 – Bacon 12oz
However, a few days after I ordered, I received an email that stated:
Bank Error In Your Favor!
This is embarrassing, but very tasty! We accidentally doubled the amount of free steaks in your recent ButcherBox.
Not a problem you say… you know someone who might eat them? That’s great!’
I’m still not sure if this was a marketing ploy, the old “over deliver”, or if it was an actual error. If we remove the free and “mistake” items, the December ButcherBox appears to have included the following items:
1 – Baby Back Ribs Whole
1 – New York Strip 2x10oz
1 – Ground Beef Brick – 2x1lb
1 – Boneless Pork Chop 4x8oz
1 – Top Sirloin 4x6oz
This would meet their description of about 20 individual (5-8oz servings); however, its hard to cut that 10oz New York Strip Steak into two 5oz services and still enjoy it the same 🙂
How was it shipped?
I was hoping to provide readers with an unboxing video; however, with FedEx losing my package for one day it was delivered right before we had to leave the house for a friend’s wedding, so I had very limited time to check out the contents and get the meat into the freezer.
I’m still not entirely sure what happened with my delivery, other than it appears to have been an error by FedEx, not ButcherBox. FedEx marked my package as delivered “left on the front porch” on Friday, only it wasn’t there or on any of my immediate neighbors porches. I contacted FedEx and they stated that they would create a tracking case and look into my missing package and someone from that team would get back to me in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, I was never contacted by anyone from the “Tracking Team”, but the package was delivered the next day, almost exactly 24 hours after FedEx had told me it had been delivered. Luckily, as you will read, ButcherBox did an amazingly good job at packaging the meat, so it was delivered in great shape and was still completely frozen even with an extra day of transit.
ButcherBox ships its orders Monday – Wednesday with planned delivery during the week. Occasionally, due to holidays or an unforeseen event that causes a delay, they may ship with a planned delivery of Saturday. They recommend using a home address to avoid any issues with businesses being closed when delivery is attempted. ButcherBox has multiple warehouses, so orders from the West Coast get shipped out of California, East Cost orders ship out of Delaware, and the rest ship out of Wisconsin. You should expect an email to arrive the morning your order is shipped with the tracking information. In my case, they used FedEx; however, according to their website they also use UPS.
The actual shipment is very well packaged. The meat is flash frozen and placed in a reusable insulated ButcherBox bag. This bag is then wrapped in two insulated blankets, one around the sides, and one under and over the bag.
Resting right on top of the bag is a plastic bag that contains a specific amount of dry ice, which is calculated based on your location and the expected transit time. The dry ice may be completely evaporated when delivered as it does evaporate over time in transit. I will be honest I was hoping for there to be a little dry ice left in my shipment when it arrived, as I love playing with dry ice.
Is it Worth It?
I’m still asking myself if ButcherBox is worth the cost. If I look at the cost I paid, $119 (normally $129) for the items I received, it was a good deal. However, looking at the normal ButcherBox subscription, if I take away the $10 discount, and the free (and mistake) items, my next box will cost $129 and will include an assortment similar to:
1 – Baby Back Ribs Whole
1 – New York Strip 2x10oz
1 – Ground Beef Brick – 2x1lb
1 – Boneless Pork Chop 4x8oz
1 – Top Sirloin 4x6oz
For my family, I don’t think the normal ButcherBox subscription is worth the cost, even when I factor in the convenience. Living in a rural area of Wisconsin I can find the same quality of meat from local farmers, at a lower cost. If I was in a larger city, where supply was more limited, and cost would likely be higher, I may have a different opinion.
Conclusion
My ButcherBox experience was great! I had one small hiccup with shipping; however, I was confident that if I couldn’t get FedEx to fix the error, ButcherBox would take care of me. Luckily FedEx was able to track down my missing delivery, and the packaging ButcherBox used ensured that the meat was not compromised.
The quality of the meat was high, and everything we have tried so far has had great flavor and texture. While we haven’t used them yet the “ButcherBox Kitchen” section of their website, has some great resources for cooking each of the cuts of meat. Getting quality meat delivered to our door was extremely convenient.
Overall, it comes down to the cost. While my December ButcherBox was a great deal, future boxes will not include the free steaks or the $10 discount that I had received on my first order. When I look at what we would get for the cost, and factoring in that our family routinely uses Ground Beef, Pork Chops, and Ribs, but we tend to save steak for special occasions, it likely isn’t worth it for our family.
I do think you should keep an eye on ButcherBox to see if you can find a deal similar to the one I found, and if you do, I would encourage you to purchase at least one box (with the deals) to try it out for yourself.
Want to try ButcherBox?
If you decide to try out ButcherBox, consider using the following link to receive a special deal:
Free Bacon & $20 off your first order:
http://fbuy.me/hcUoL
My ButcherBox package came 2 days late. The dry ice was long gone; the meat was room temp, completely thawed, and bleeding through the bag into the box.
Their support team does not seem to exist. I sent an email as soon as I saw that my shipment wasn’t delivered on time. Got the auto-reply from Zendesk saying my email was received, no actual answer to the ticket. I called and sent pictures of the thawed and bleeding meat. No reps available on the phone line, no answer to my emails.
I’m sorry your shipping problems didn’t turn out positive like mine did. I have read a lot of reviews that talk about Butcher Box’s Customer Services problems; however, I’ve also read a few articles that state that hey have addressed this problem.