KALON FARM, Grass-Fed Beef, Farm-To Table, Local Meat - Lancaster, Massachusetts

Fabian S.

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 another customer.

Faye M.

I have been meaning to stop at Kalon Farm and check them out; well with the current state of life, we decided as a family to support our community and shop local as much as possible. I ordered online and checked in with them a few hours later, they were so nice! My order was ready super quick, pick up was easy peasy! The quality of their meat is amazing! We had the ground beef and my husband had their pork chops for dinner tonight; so tender and the flavor was..wow! Is this what I have been missing all these years? You have made me a regular customer for sure!

Kristina V.

Excellent quality meat!! Just tried them for the first time. I was getting grass fed meat from a farm much further away, and their packaging hasn’t been the best. I lost some meats because of it. Until I saw this place on Facebook one day and thought to give it a try. The packaging is so much better than I was getting previously, the meat tastes better, and looks better. Also at a better price. I know grass fed meat is expensive but to be honest it’s worth it. I started to eat clean a few years ago and never felt better. Will be getting my chicken and beef from Kalon Farm for now on.

Homebrew R.

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 resolve this issue.

Cacayla

Fresh local meat & prepared food offerings, as well as Kalon Farms own delicious wine. Clustertruck Food festival held an event there this year (2017); great food, beer, wine & music!

connor F.

I get a lot of ground beef from here and the occasional steak. Meat is always fresh and tastes great and worth the premium price.

G.a. J.

we always stop by the shop on way to our cabin In royalston -Recently we started online ordering -We expected our order to arrive by post in a week or two -we were surprised when someone literally drove our order to us just a few weekdays after ordering ! We live literally 1.5 hours away 25 minutes away from cape cod! great service you have a loyal client here and will be telling everyone we onow !

Lumber J.

We are choking down the last few pounds of our beef from the quarter cow we had purchased. Most of the steaks were good with a few that had an “off flavor” I’m not sure what happened to the ground beef though, something must’ve gotten contaminated in the processing as there was a very rancid taste and smell, strong enough that spaghetti sauce won’t even cover. I had high hopes but was disappointed.