The modern world of butchering is evolving rapidly in the internet age, and we meat enthusiasts have some choices to make when it comes to where we spend our hard-earned protein budgets.

Snake River Farms just got the Bon Appétit treatment, and spoiler: they passed the taste test. The premium beef brand, known for its American Wagyu, has gained a reputation (the good kind) amongst those who feel comfortable ordering their meats online.

Per Bon Appétit, everyone should pony up for an online meat subscription.

But here’s the thing, Snake River’s success says something bigger about where we’re headed as meat eaters.

The New Age of Butchers

The internet used to feel like the enemy of traditional butchers. Now it’s becoming their biggest tool. Shops we’ve featured in the Dead Meat Spam newsletter before, like Gore’s Meats, and other independent butchers and farmers all over the country are entering the ecommerce scene, using online stores, subscriptions, and pre-order systems to reach us loyal meat nerds.

It’s truly the best of both worlds. When the craftsmanship stays local, but the customer base doesn’t have to be, quality prevails, right? Well, that’s certainly the hope.

The Meat Still Matters

Fancy packaging and slick websites are great, but none of it works without good meat. Snake River’s model seems to produce a good product, at least as far as Bon Appétit was concerned.

We’d love to see a world where local farmers aren’t pushed out of the market by big subscription brands, but can get their quality work to their whole community.

When local butchers learn to use the same playbook as bigger ecommerce brands, they don’t have to sacrifice the story, the relationships, or the trust that built their reputations. They just make it easier for people to buy the good stuff from the right hands.