HomemakingZaycon Fresh closed their doors on June 25, 2018–but that doesn’t mean there aren’t alternatives to Zayon Fresh–and to buying affordable, quality meats! This post will give 6 alternatives to Zaycon Fresh!
It is sadness and frustration that I am writing you today to let you know that one of my most FAVORITE businesses has suspended their operations, and, it appears, has gone out of business!
I’ve been telling you all about Zaycon Fresh for years because I’ve been a loyal customer for years–at least five or six! A couple days ago, I ran across a Facebook post that said they have suspended operations. The post–and their website–give no further information!
Alternatives to Zaycon Fresh
I’ve long promoted Zaycon because I ordered from them regularly myself, and although their meat wasn’t organic, I felt it was high quality (especially their wild-caught seafood!), and it’s what I fed my own family.
You could not beat Zaycon’s prices, which, sadly, seems to have contributed to their demise. Offering customers such low prices again and again was not a sustainable business model.
So where do we go from here?
The following are some suggestions for where to purchase bulk meats online.
I’m still researching these myself, and I will let you know my findings here and in future blog posts/newsletters.
Azure Standard
I’ve actually been a loyal Azure customer for years as well. They are based on farmland out in the Pacific Northwest but deliver by trucks all over the U.S. monthly.
Pros- They offer a HUGE selection of natural foods, including produce, canned goods, boxed staples, dairy, meats, and more.
Cons- While they are typically cheaper than Whole Foods and other health food stores, they are for sure pricier than what we were accustomed to paying for Zaycon meats. Buying in bulk and splitting with friends is definitely the way to go with Azure. The more you buy, the more affordable Azure becomes. I also always check out their sales and clearance tabs before ordering.
Check out Azure here.
Butcher Box
Full discloser: Our family loves the idea of Butcher Box, but we’ve only tried them ourselves once. Why? Full transparency: the price!
We have been getting meat at such a good deal from Zaycon that we haven’t had much reason to look elsewhere–even when that meant we weren’t always getting the highest quality meat. Why? Let’s be honest: Sometimes “better” is the “best” when it comes to budget.
Pros- Butcher Box offers very high quality meat, and they deliver to your home!! They also sometimes offer sales, and the prices really aren’t ridiculous when you compare them to somewhere like Whole Foods. Also, shipping is FREE! Their meat is 100% grass-fed, their pork is heritage breed, and their chickens are free-range organic. Their meat is all certified humane and all free from added antibiotics and hormones.
Cons- The price. That’s really it. If you’re already used to buying organic meat at the grocery store, Butcher Box might even feel like a steal to you.
Want to try Butcher Box?Check out their current promo deal here.
Tropical Traditions
I’ve been a long-time customer of Tropical Traditions, but I’ve never purchased meat from them because…again…they are pricey. But they are pricey for a reason: They only offer the highest quality meat.
They also sell high quality coconut oil, palm shortening, eggs, and even non-toxic cleaning supplies (among other things).
Pros- They offer TOP quality products. They ship straight to your house. When you sign up for their newsletter, they offer some great deals and even free shipping occasionally.
Cons-They are pricey (but for a reason). They only offer free shipping occasionally.
I just checked the website, and Tropical Traditions offers FREE shipping at times as well! Check out Tropical Traditions here.
Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms has been around for years, and I never associated them with quality meats–until now. Perdue Farms has completely rebranded in recent years, and they are now a legitimate source of high-quality meats of all sorts!
Like Butcher Box, Perdue Farms now delivers straight to customer doors!
While Perdue offers conventional meats, some of their premium offerings include:
Warehouse Stores (Costco, BJs, Sam’s)
Like I wrote about in my books, buying in bulk is often (but not always) more affordable. If none of the above work for you, I recommend checking out the meat prices at your closest warehouse store. We’ve had a membership to BJ’s and Sam’s off and on for several years, and I’m excited that a new Costco is opening in my town next year. (Read my friend April’s review of Costco here and my review of Sam’s Club here.)
Local Farms
You will, without a doubt, get the highest-quality meat from your local farmers. Now, I can’t research the farms for you, but you can always check out a site like Local Harvest to find farms near you.
In the past, my husband and I have used tax returns to purchase up to 1/2 a cow! That meat lasted us a LONG time!
Your Local Grocery Store
If you’re used to the convenience of buying meat in bulk online, then it can sound like a bummer to go back to your local grocery store. But here’s a tip: When they mark meat down, simply STOCK UP. This is the best way to ensure the most bang for your buck.
Also, while I used to not get meat at ALDI (my favorite grocery store!) that has all changed over the past several years. They now offer organic grass-fed beef, wild-caught seafood, and even organic chicken. So if you haven’t visited an ALDI in a while, go explore their meat section. You might be surprised at what you find.
So while I’m SUPER BUMMED that Zaycon is closing (and especially that they have closed in such an abrupt manner while leaving customers and employees scrambling), I’m glad we DO have other options for where to shop online (and in person) for affordable and quality meats.
Holly
Cash and Carry or restaurant supply stores that are open to the public. I just bought a 10lb tube of hamburger for $1.91/lb and a whole pork loin for $1.47/lb.
Erin
That is amazing! I will check into these. Thank you, Holly!!
Dan
Any update on Zaycon or Zaycon alternatives? Thanks!
LeAnne
Straussdirect.com. Pricier than zaycon, but way less expensive than butcher box. Grassfed beef shipped right to my front door!
Erin
Going to check it out right now. Thanks so much for sharing, LeAnne!!
June
Just looked and the prices are ridiculous. $10.99 for 12 oz pkg of applewood bacon. OMG. I’d only be able to eat once a week at their prices.
Erin
🙁 Everything I’m looking at is a huge sticker shock compared to Zaycon. 🙁 It looks like a warehouse store might be our best bet at this point.
Jon
As an online seafood retailer myself, I just found out today about Zaycon. I was actually heading to their site to spy on them like I have previously. LOL
Those prices were ridiculously too cheap, they had virtually no wiggle room with that business model.
They used to sell Argentina caught red shrimp for less than $1 per pound over cost. This doesn’t account for the numerous people who receive an order and falsely state a problem and want a refund. It’s a rampant problem in food service with people trying to essentially steal from the retailer.
Justin
we ordered a double order of the 99 cent chicken deal. we went on vacation for a week and when we came back we got a notification they were suspending operations and a link showing more info that said barely anything. so we did not get our order or our money back.
Sarah
I’ve been ordering from Zaycon for years, so sad to see this happen.
If you call your credit card company, you may be able to get the charges reversed. I use Capitol One and they credited disputed charges back to my account. (I had 4 unfufilled orders totaling over $800). Zaycon has 90 days to respond, otherwise the credits will stay on may account. Not all credit card companies work that way, but its worth a shot to recover your money!
One problem I had was knowing which orders had been received and which hadn’t since I can’t look up my account on Zaycon and the orders were placed months ago…
Erin
It is a HUGE bummer! I was so looking forward to my summer chicken and shrimp orders! Thanks for the tip on Capitol One! I’m glad it worked out for you!
John
Although not nationwide if near you (Upper Midwest, PA, NY & FL) Gordon Food Service Stores (gfsstore.com) have comparable values to Zaycon. We recently bought a 40lb box of boneless chicken breasts for apprx. $1.35lb, they also had 10lb rolls of grnd beef.
Still looking for a supplier to get Salmon like Zaycon offered though.
Jon
Nobody will sell you salmon at their prices, unless they want to go out of business.
Julina Sokolowski
We loved and respected Zacon , so many wonderful people. I disputed charge thru my bank and today was reimbursed. It took about a week and a half. Please if they are ever back in business , or a company you know of as good as they where please keep us informed!
Wonderful website Erin !
Karen
I have not ordered anything from them yet…but now I know why I started getting emails…they purchased Zaycons 1 million customer email list!!! https://www.zayconfresh.com/
Johan
Erin, please check out www.FarmFoodsMarket.com. We opened up a few months ago, and we’re a lot cheaper than the ones you listed here. Let us know what you think!
Yours,
Johan
Erin
Hi! Please send me an email about your products, and maybe I can write about them! thehumbledhomemaker at gmail dot com.
Karen
Erin, I have not purchased anything from this new company yet, Fresh Farms, but this article explains why I started receiving emails from them. They purchased the 1 million email list from Zaycon. https://www.zayconfresh.com/
Debbie Davis
Check naturallyadeal.com. Tons of bulk and case options on all kinds of food. They deliver to select cities sort of like Zaycon. You order ahead, meet the truck, help sort and unload and pay when you pick up. Lots of excellent deals.
Brittany
Just looked them up. They’re not in California yet. : (
Clyde
Don’t worry because I ordered $458. Worth of meat from Zaycon and did not receive my order or a refund even from my bank. Sorry that I am so late in putting this message on here but decided to look for an alternative to Zaycon and haven’t come up with one as of this date.
Erin
I’m so sorry to hear that. 🙁
Jennifer
Clyde, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it by now (as I don’t know when your comment was posted), but if you haven’t, Savory Butcher is our favorite.
They operate in the same manner as Zaycon did. In fact, it was founded by a former Zaycon customer and is now employed with former Zaycon employees, including the CEO.
savorybutcher.com
Ruth from VA
Thanks for all of the years you’ve put in to help us mommas out! This is my first comment to your blog, but have read and been a fan over the last couple of years.
I am floored Zaycon is suspended…what a loss! Boo. Anywho…ALDI is typically my first stop for my family of 5 (which includes 3 boys (15, 13 & 9) and hubby). We are blessed to have 2 of them within 10 minutes from our house. [And a LIDL, but that’s less convenient…AND they have a bakery, so I try NOT to go there!] Only about 2 years ago did I begin purchasing meat from ALDI, for it wasn’t appetizing when the stores first opened in the area (6 yrs ago?). I wait until the boneless, skinless chicken breasts are $1.49/lb and bulk purchase.
Another help is knowing that Giant Food (Virginia) takes competitors coupons. SO I wait for the Shopper’s Food Warehouse “$10 off a $50 purchase” coupon to arrive in their weekly flyer. Then I check to see if Giant is having a sale on their chicken. Sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. Giant is 5 min from our home and I do not grocery shop at Shopper’s. It’s pretty easy to grab $50 worth of chicken, check out, then take my receipt to the service desk, where they hand me a $10 bill and I go home a little happier because I saved $ upon $.
Kelly
Nature Garden Express is who I used for Organic fruits, vegetables, meat, honey, bread and dairy. I lived in Marietta, GA at the time so I don’t know how far they deliver to. https://www.naturesgardenexpress.com/
Alyssa
You might try CrowdCow for farm direct beef, pork, and chicken. You can learn about each farm and the shipping is a flat price. So far everything I’ve had from them has been great.
Ashley
Loved Zaycon. Aldi is one of my favorite Stores. First stop before anywhere else. But I love buying my meat fresh and in bulk… We have The Chef Store that is open to the public…I only went in and looked once…well when Zaycon went out of business I called first and then went in… I was able to get a 40 pound box of boneless Skinless Chicken breast for like $1.20 a pound, A box of boneless skinless chicken thigh for the same price! and my next buy will be a case of ground beef which comes in approximately 8 tubes of 10 pound each … but i will split that with a friend or two… the price? $1.80 a pound. My local “cheaper” meat counter was $3.99 for one pound of 80/20 beef… so sad about Zaycon…but i am more excited about this Chef store and I don’t have prepay month ahead for a good price. and the quality has been great… I mean it is restaurant quality at least… also while i am there I can shop for a lot of other things in bulk for less…
Kristen
Where are you located? Is it a chain store or is that the only one?
Jeff jernigan
Zaycon left me with over 500 dollars of undelivered orders ! Looking for alternatives, any suggestions
Stephanie Coleman
https://www.google.com/amp/www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jul/06/zaycon-lawsuit-reveals-allegations-of-fraud-and-co/%3famp-content=amp
Haven’t bought from zaycon in a while. Now I’m glad I haven’t but this shed some light on to what’s going on.
Erica
Thank you so much for this post! I just started following Jordan Page and she recommended in an older video to check out Zaycon so when I googled Zaycon I was directed to this page. Lucky me! I never heard of these meat retailers prior to reading your post. I checked out Butcher Box and now we’re placing our first order. Fingers crossed. I live in Massachusetts so meats are pricey anyways without consistent availability of our favorite grass-fed cuts so at least this will be convenient (availability and delivery) if all works out. Again thank you for such a well-researched post and now i will follow you. Have a blessed day!!!
Deb
Anyone heard of freshfarmsusa.com?
Michelle
I am so late to this info and am so sad! We have loved Zaycon for years!!! I will check out some of your recommendations but am really going to miss Zaycon! 🙁
CJ
NOT the same company, but they bought Zaycon and Fruit Club’s customer list and are attempting to revive the fresh to table delivery market.
Jennifer
I don’t know if you’ve heard of it by now (as I don’t know when these comments were posted), but if you haven’t, Savory Butcher is our favorite.
They operate in the same manner as Zaycon did. In fact, it was founded by a former Zaycon customer (about 9 weeks after Zaycon’s closing) and is now employed with former Zaycon employees, including the CEO.
savorybutcher.com
Tracy M
Erin,
I’m a little confused by your comment on Perdue Farms:
“…and they are not a legitimate source of high-quality meats of all sorts!”
You say NOT legitimate source. So typo or stay away?
Will O
It was a typo that has been fixed. Thanks!
Erin
It’s supposed to say “now”! Yikes! Good catch!