After buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, Amazon will meet this week with organic ranchers to discuss how the company might distribute their meat, says Reuters. One of the ranches, White Oak Pastures from Blufton, Georgia, sells $2 million annually online of frozen beef, duck and lamb, but is hopeful that teaming up with Amazon will improve its reach.
“I’m just certain that Amazon is better at it than us,” said Will Harris, the ranch owner. “I’m a farmer and they’re logistics people.”
According to the Organic Trade Association, domestic sales of organic meat and poultry came in at $991 million last year, a 17-percent increase over the previous year. While the ranchers at the meeting are hopeful that Amazon will open new market opportunities, other meat producers have expressed concern that the corporate buyout will lead to more imports from abroad.
“It could be as bad as shutting us out or as good as expanding the market,” said Mark Smith, whose Aspen Island Ranch is not involved in the meeting but is part of a cooperative that sells organic grass-fed beef to Whole Foods.