What’s New in the Shopping Cart: Same Beef Flavor, Better Nutrition - Innovative Feed Supplier Goes Horn-to-Horn with Big Beef in High-profile Tasting Event
Washington, DC (PRWEB) March 31, 2014 -- A Colorado-based company is on the verge of adding a new, healthier menu choice for beef lovers — and at the same time, connecting directly with consumers to kickstart its entry into the market.
Led by visionary cattleman and company founder Don Smith, Omega3Beef recently held a tasting event in Washington, DC, where it debuted the results of its innovative, all-natural cattle feed supplement. Guests at the event sampled and compared standard steaks with steaks that featured heart-healthy omega 3 levels similar to those found in halibut or mahi mahi.
“We really didn’t know what to expect,” notes veteran chef and restaurant owner Brad Walker, who oversaw the cooking and tasting event. “But the guests said they loved its traditional flavor, and the omega 3 benefits were a welcome bonus. Not only that,” Walker jokes, “but there were no leftovers, unlike with some of the standard steak we offered.”
Smith has been on a 25-year quest to improve the health benefits of beef. His big breakthrough came in 2007, when he heard renowned animal science researchers explaining how cattle feed containing certain types of grasses could increase omega 3 levels in beef. If that’s true, Smith wondered, why not improve cattle’s diet using an even better source — the same omega 3-rich ocean algae that starts the food chain of fish like salmon?
Smith’s team spent the next six years researching the best kind of algae to use, and found one with a system for growing the algae in land-based, pure saltwater tanks. Now they’re preparing to win approval for commercial sales of the supplement from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). “We’re expecting to be approved by early fall,” Smith explains. “After that, we’ll start selling it for cattle feeders to mix in with their current feed.”
Although Smith and his investors have been funding expenses to date, for the next phase, the company is changing its approach. “We’re using crowdfunding,” explains Smith, “to help us scale up operations to raise a test group of 200 cattle, so that CVM can review our supplement for commercial sales.”
Consumers can visit the company’s website to make donations ranging from $50 to $200. To show its gratitude, the company will then prepare and mail to its supporters packages of beef produced from the test herd.
“We’re taking this unusual funding approach to help offset some of our costs,” Smith explains. “More importantly, doing so will help us show the beef industry that consumers really do want the choice of healthier beef.”
About Omega3Beef
Based in Aspen, Colorado, Omega3Beef is a small company with big ideas. Founder Don Smith’s company is pioneering a way to enrich cattle feed using the same natural feedstock that gives healthful benefits to halibut and salmon — resulting in beef that is rich in heart-healthy omega 3’s EPA and DHA.
Don Smith, Flagship Omega 3 Beef, http://www.omegabeef.com, (970) 963-1409, [email protected]
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