KALON FARM, Grass-Fed Beef, Farm-To Table, Local Meat — Attraction in Lancaster

We supported a different farm for our bulk grass-fed beef for many years but decided to switch to Kalon Farms last summer because they were closer to us and because the other farm, while having fantastic quality meat, weren't the best at butchering.

We tried Kalon beef a number of times by buying from their storefront but finally decided to buy half a cow. It took a couple months to finish off the previous cow we'd purchased before getting to the Kalon cow but immediately knew something was wrong as soon as we tried our first steak. There was a subtle "off" taste to it. Over the next month or so, we tried multiple different cuts and all the ones with any fat or marbling had the same issue. The leaner cuts were mostly okay.

I reached out to Kalon using the form on their website. No reply. I reached out again via email. No reply. I was very clear that I wasn't expecting a refund or reimbursement of any kind because I knew it had been a few months. I just wanted to inform them and ask if anybody else had reported the same issue. Still nothing back from them. Eventually, a few months later, I remembered that I still hadn't heard anything back so I called and asked to speak to someone in charge. They were super sarcastic on the phone. It started with "Are you sure you bought from us? I don't even recognize your name." It progressed to "Many people complain about the taste because they don't know what real grass-fed beef tastes like; it's not like store-bought meat." It ended with "We had another complaint a few months ago but our owner took the beef home and ate it all and it was fine."

I went there three days ago to drop off the over 240lbs of what remained. Around 80lbs of assorted steaks and cuts. Around 20-30lbs of roasts. Around 100lbs of mince. Around 30-40lbs of bones, tallow, organs, etc. I was very polite to the person at the desk (it's not her fault, after all), we were respectful of the space and brought everything back in cooler boxes and placed them neatly inside. I handed them a letter (pic attached) and included my phone number in case the owner wanted to call me back.

Still zero response.

There are a few other reviews online complaining about the same "off" taste but there's seemingly always some sort of excuse as to why it's the customer's fault or that the customer just doesn't understand what good beef tastes like. I also saw some posts about their farming practices, stating that their animals were feeding on what used to be dump grounds. I didn't see that for myself so I can't comment but it was worth noting that it's being said by more than just a few people.

Personally, I've accepted the loss of, literally, thousands of dollars of meat. It would've just been the professional thing to reach out to me at least once to discuss the matter. Instead, I get complete radio silence.

I included a pic of the email I'd sent and the letter I left. I also included a comparison pic of Kalon's mince to the mince from my previous farm. Theirs looks extremely pale and anemic in comparison. It also doesn't match what they sell in their storefront. I suspect their storefront gets meat from their healthy cows but bulk orders are not from the same batch but, obviously, that's purely speculation so take it for what it's worth. I have no evidence one way or another but the discrepancy in quality between bulk and storefront is visible/tastable.

Edit: In response to the business reply below, it took a negative review for you to finally feel like I was worth getting back to. And your claim of "we have not encountered similar concerns" is verifiably false just by looking online and also a direct contradiction to what was said by your manager directly to me over the phone about the instance back in January with...

The owner of this farm owned BullSpit Brewery which abruptly shut down in Maynard MA. We were mug members and had unknowingly renewed our membership in Dec 2022 for the upcoming 2023 year membership while the owner knew he was going to shut down the business 2 weeks later while collecting customers’ money. The membership includes your own numbered mug, 4-6oz more than standard pint glass, mug member events, discount for merchandise and other benefits. The owner claimed that memberships & mugs would transfer to the Winchendon location which never opened, instead just a yard for ALL customers to sit at a picnic table with a beer out of a plastic cup and only when the weather is nice, with NO mug membership benefits that we PAID for, and is now also out of business and the actual brewery/building never opened! Even the yard was shut down by the Fall of 2023 and yet the membership contract was to be for 1 year. We were told our mugs would transfer over once the brewery/building opened in Winchendon. Well it never did and employees were never contacted, and had to read about BullSpit going completely out of business online. The owner Keith banned customers from the Facebook group who asked for a refund for a service/membership they paid for and never received. Very unprofessional and strange. This is the same owner of this farm, and when we finally tracked him down here, he finally replied to our 2nd or 3rd email and while refusing to refund us for the membership we paid for but never benefited from, he offered a coupon to come shop at the farm but then never replied again when asked how to take advantage of a coupon for Kalon Farms; there was no digital coupon or any info sent to us and again no response. He doesn’t communicate with his employees who unexpectedly lost their jobs either. So much for valuing customers, valuing his reputation, valuing employees or bringing in new customers here at this farm. Never bothered to reply to customers whom were ripped off, nor to his employees at BullSpit whom were treated poorly and never communicated with when his brewery locations shut down one by one. We may look into filing in small claims court for our membership fees we paid but never were able to take...

The owner of this farm owned BullSpit brewery and abruptly shut down in 2023 without telling his employees. He charged mug club member fees to loyal customers who wanted to renew for the year but then went out of business a week later after stealing our money. The membership did NOT transfer over to some Winchendon location he claimed to be opening, which was just some brew yard that shut down permanently later in the year. He refuses to reply to any of our emails, refuses to refund our money, so we have to take time when we can to file a civil lawsuit in small claims court to fight to get our money back. What a lousy way to treat customers. *Edited to add reply: There was no “transfer” to any BullSpit brewery location in Winchendon because it never opened, so mugs never transferred, there was just a brew yard, and your employee told us mugs would transfer over, also the brew yard with no mug memberships was not always open then you closed permanently in the Fall of 2023. So there was no full year membership, no “transfer” to take advantage of that we PAID for, and you refuse to just simply REFUND our money!! We were told a Winchendon brewery would open which it NEVER did. When we emailed you, you never replied until we had sent multiple emails and instead of just simply refunding our money you offered a coupon to Kalon Farms (which is owned by you/same person who owned BullSpit) and when we asked how to take advantage of a coupon to the farm (would it be mailed to us, would there be a coupon code, etc.?) YOU STILL NEVER REPLIED! We sent another email, no reply! Your BullSpit employee whom we worked with was never told any info by you that the Winchendon location was shutting down a few months after the Maynard location did. She was trying to help us and was getting minimal or no communication from you as well. So we were never informed of anything and still never receiving a reply/refund for the money we spent for two people for a year mug membership. We will try again to resend the email in which we asked how we can...