When we decided to build on-farm processing in 2008, we made the decision to “deal” with anything and everything that comes from a cow, a pig, a chicken, etc. While this sounds pretty common sense, it’s actually pretty rare- there are very few slaughter facilities left in our Nation. Butcher shops typically order what they need by the case, few get the opportunity to be creative with new cuts and “by-products.” Processing at White Oak Pastures means that even if hanger steaks aren’t trendy, we still deal with them.
In processing on the farm, we needed a way to deal with the inedible viscera that comes off of a cow- the part Americans don’t typically consume: the digestive tract, the respiratory tract, the reproductive tract, bones, fat, etc. On-farm composting takes care of most of these parts and pieces, which in return makes really wonderful natural, pasture fertilizer. However, fat is not something that composts well- it forms an impermeable layer on top of the soil that keeps rain from absorbing and vegetation from growing.
After a couple of years processing on the farm, we made the decision that we no longer needed to compost fat- it was doing our compost more harm than good. So, a couple of great interns got to work researching what to do with beef fat. After a few recipe testing runs, our tallow bar soap was born! It’s the same recipe we use today twelve years later. But, just because we knew what to make with fat did not mean that we could sell it…
Around that same time (2014), Whole Foods Market was one of our largest customers. One of the executives caught wind of our new tallow soaps, and they wanted to carry them in the Whole Body department. Up until that point, there had been no animal by-products allowed in the Whole Body department of Whole Foods, but considering the ethos of “whole” foods, they decided it made sense to expand from their meat department to allow “whole” animal products. We were so excited to see this change, and we knew that this would be the answer to keeping fat out of our compost.
After a few weeks of filling orders and stocking the Atlanta region store shelves, we waited and waited for a reorder- a reorder that never came. Despite the popularity of tallow products today, our bar of tallow soap was too early of an innovation to catch traction in retail.
We never gave up on tallow products- and we are glad we stuck with it. We sell many different tallow products today, almost none of our fat goes to compost. This old but new again mentality around tallow products has been a wonderful thing for farms like White Oak Pastures.
