Temple Grandin, Professor at Colorado State University and world renown animal welfare specialist and contributor to
First and foremost, small processing plants will never, let me repeat that, never compete with the large plants on cost efficiency. But a series of smaller plants will be less susceptible to the disruptions that happened in the spring of 2020. Grandin offers the following points that have been synthesized into a few sentences.
Use the craft beer industry as a model: Go niche
During the restrictions placed upon restaurants and bars, craft brewers innovated and moved their dining outside so they could still sell their draft beers. More importantly craft brewers have been able to coexist with the Anheuser-Busch InBevs because they offer beers that the large brewers do not. That is the definition of a niche. And you must have one to justify the higher prices you charge to cover your production costs. “Locally raised by farm families”is your niche.