Oakland-based Cream Co. Meats announced recently that, for the first time ever, it will start delivering its products on a retail basis.
Statewide Covid-19-related shelter-in-place regulations mandated the closure of many restaurants and other businesses that regularly serve and sell Cream Co. products. As a result, Cream Co. saw a 90 percent drop in revenue; a majority of its employees have been furloughed.
“With a vast majority of our clients closed to the public, we saw this retail model as an opportunity to continue to serve our exceptional product and provide a lifeline to not only our staff, but also to the ranchers that we need to continue to support,” said Cream Co. Meats owner Cliff Pollard.
Founded in 2016 and operating out of a 15,000-square-foot USDA custom fabrication facility in East Oakland — which is the only 100 percent “natural-or-better” whole-animal-processing, cold storage, and distribution facility in the metropolitan Bay Area — Cream Co. has just launched its new Bunker Boxes, containing a variety of meat options such as whole chicken, ground beef and pork, steak, bacon, chops, charcuterie, and more.
The company is now spearheading all delivery via the Cream Co. website to San Francisco, East Bay, and the greater Peninsula. Customers can order via the Cream Co. website for either next-day or two-day shipping throughout California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona.
“Our hearts ache for our friends and colleagues in the restaurant industry and all of the people that have to go without jobs,” Pollard said.
“We also have to take into account this break in the supply chain — the dedicated hours of labor, years of planning, and entire lifespans of all the animals raised exclusively for these partnerships: all of the tireless work that goes into building a sustainable and regenerative business.”
