The Future of Bison

Bison has been pegged as a notable alternative for various meat options for consumers who may be looking for more protein, nutrients and minerals. Many have come to experiment with bison by including it in their weekly meals in an attempt to broaden their palates and meals while cooking from home.

Great Range Bison remained committed to providing delicious, premium quality bison to retail partners and consumers throughout all the obstacles that the industry has been facing as of late. While the company mentioned it has been a rougher start to the year, they have been able to strengthen relationships while continuing to offer retailers low prices on bison products. “We haven’t raised our prices for retailers in brick-and-mortar since 2020, we found efficiencies in different processes throughout the plant to help with these increased costs,” said Director of Sales, Cory Schmeling. “We are seeing it across the board in box costs, packaging, etc. but we have found some efficiencies and we are seeing some retailers wanting to get a lower price, but we haven’t raised our prices while other proteins have, and now they are coming back down.” said, we still believe the best way to grow is to do things right, stay consistent in our values, and stay consistent with price. We have worked very hard over the first part of 2022 to keep our

“We are seeing key words called out, sustainable, regenerative, but we are seeing consumers watch what they are buying with inflation. We might see a decline in foodservice with people trying to save money and cook from home again with this inflation, but we are behind our quality and our brand and consumers know the Great Range brand.” — Cory Schmeling, Great Range Bison retail ground bison consistent in price. We have looked for other lines of revenue to offset our product cost coupled with internal efficiencies of operating our facilities. So far, we have succeeded but it sure is becoming more difficult with the increased cost of labor, packaging and freight.”

As consumers become more familiar with the category, companies like Blackwing Meats are striving to provide consumers with variety and convenient options. “We are introducing elk, venison, bison and wild boar chili: a 5-minute heat and serve product. A complete line of brats in all game and organic proteins,” said Roger Gerber, President of Blackwing Meats. “We are fortunate to have the resources necessary to supply both our existing and potential new customers.”

Recently, the company has been focusing on the positives and diving into the possibilities in spite of the challenges. “I guess a lot of what we do is talk about the positives that our business can provide,” said COO Ace Ward. “There’s a lot of positives in the meat and on the bison on the landscape too. There’s a lot of challenges we work through. Whether it’s animal welfare or activists, we just try and talk about the positives of how we run our business and the product that we are selling and how it’s good to continue to eat bison because it helps.”

“We are always looking for new ideas or better ways to do things, to innovate our products, or market ourselves uniquely,” Ward told Grocery Insight in a previous interview. “With that being

Great Range Bison has been known for meeting retailers where they are at and ensuring their demands are met so they can in turn, provide solutions for their consumers’ needs and preferences. “So, our main one that we are doing is just the 8-count case, currently we are doing a 12 count and that’s just to help our retailers with shrink,” said Schmeling. “So, just a smaller count going into each of their stores is what we are looking at. We are seeing a lot more retailers wanting a smaller unit count per case, so we are listening and that’s what we are focusing on right now.”

Looking at trends, the company has noticed many consumers want to know that their products are responsibly sourced and the company they are buying from uses sustainable practices when possible. “We are seeing key words called out, sustainable, regenerative, but we are seeing consumers watch what they are buying with inflation,” Schmeling continued. “We might see a decline in foodservice with people trying to save money and cook from home again with this inflation, but we are behind our quality and our brand and consumers know the Great Range brand.”

While recent events and trends have been contributing to the growth and evolution of the category, leaders in the bison category work year-round to provide their retail partners and consumers quality meat. Alongside this, educating potential newcomers to the category has been a priority for companies like High Plain Bison. “Education is very important, but it doesn’t mean that it needs to be difficult,” said Dan Swartz with High Plains Bison. “We’ve built engaging merchandising and educational components that are ready-to-go and easily implemented into a wide range of store formats. In-store education, along with beautiful packaging that’s designed to educate makes the difference. We’ve also built online education components available to our retailers. Staying up-to-date and educated on bison is important because there’s a lot of variances in product quality and we want to ensure first-time trials are exceptional. Education is an important pillar in that effort.”

“Consumers want and are demanding variety,” Swartz said. “The ‘new normal’ has created an environment where people are more comfortable trying new products. We’ve seen this new normal drawing people to bison as another great protein option. This doesn’t mean completely replacing another protein with bison, but rather adding bison to their mix. Bison is a perfect 'additional option' because of its great taste and healthy benefits.”