Welcome to “Table Talk.” As many of you know, a couple weeks ago, we launched the Diamond J Wagyu website. We actually started working on this in April 2019 when we decided to really build a business marketing our Wagyu beef. The decision was made to employ BluePrint Media (www.blueprintma.com) to build our website; this is the same company we worked with to launch our Stroup Feeders website (www.stroupfeeders.com). Even though we had launched a website before, building a website was still a very foreign process to us and we learned a lot along the way.
The learning curve that we have experienced during the last year has been pretty much vertical. Determining the size of shipping boxes and frozen gel packs, negotiating shipping rates, determining product prices and prime animal harvest weights and learning the farmers market rules are just a few of the processes we have become familiar with in the past year. We are continuing to fine tune these things and more in an effort to offer customers our premium beef in the easiest way possible.
When we started Diamond J Wagyu, one of our goals was to develop a market with a restaurant. On March 7, we had our first trial run at The Coppermill Steakhouse (https://www.facebook.com/TheCoppermillMcCook/). The McCook, Neb., restaurant served a hamburger made with our premium Wagyu beef, and they sold out of their supply. We were there for this initial offering and visited with several diners about Diamond J Wagyu. Needless to say, we were elated on the drive home!
As we go forward, we look to growing this business. We have plans to add additional farmers markets to our schedule and continue to build relationships by offering premium beef, born on our place, cared for by our family and managed for that intense flavor and marbling. To all of you who have started with us in the last year, we say thank you for your early trust. We are truly looking forward to the future and seeing where this might lead.