AUSTIN, Texas — Global Animal Partnership (G.A.P.), North America’s most comprehensive farm animal welfare standards program, welcomes its first beef supplier in South America: Range Patagonian Grass-Fed Beef from the lush beef-raising regions of southern Chile. This 100 percent grass-fed beef is certified to G.A.P.’s Pasture Raised (Step 4) animal welfare standards and will be available to customers in the continental U.S. online via Thrive Market this month.
“Producing great tasting and high attribute beef is our passion and we’ve long believed that doing so absolutely requires better animal stewardship,” said Eric Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of Range Patagonian Grass-Fed Beef. “We went looking for a program that aligned with our strong values, and G.A.P. was the right partner for us. Our customers want to know that every farm has met the requirements to earn G.A.P.’s animal welfare certification – giving them confidence and peace of mind from a label they can trust.”
“Grass-fed beef is an ‘of the land’ product. It all comes down to the land and the cattle: the details that matter so much,” said Francisco Iñiguez, the company’s co-founder and general manager.“No doubt you have heard of Patagonia’s reputation as one of the most beautiful places in the world, well, it is well deserved. We have been raising cattle on the lush pastures of Los Lagos and in the Aysén region of southern Chile for hundreds of years. Our region is known as tierra de leche y carne de Chile, the land of milk and meat. We are creating a whole new culinary experience that is not only delicious but also a new holistic, healthier perspective on one of the staffs of life—meat.”
G.A.P.’s Pasture Raised (Step 4) standard means that cattle must live on pasture throughout their lives, and requires that more than 100 other animal welfare standards covering the entire life of the animal be met. As with all G.A.P. certified meats, Range Patagonian Grass-Fed Beef is raised without added hormones or antibiotics. These cattle are 100 percent grass-fed, and are finished on small family farms in Chile.
“Thrive Market is proud to partner with G.A.P. and Range Patagonian and have all of our frozen meat Animal Welfare Certified,” said Mike Hacaga, Thrive Market’s Product Innovator, Meat & Seafood. “Thrive Market members can be assured that they are purchasing high quality meat that is ethically & sustainably sourced.”
“We’re proud to welcome Range Patagonian Grass-Fed Beef’s Pasture Raised operations to the G.A.P program, and the expansion to South America marks another exciting first for the organization,” said G.A.P. executive director Anne Malleau. “Working with retailers like Thrive Market to bring their supplier ranches through the program is an incredible opportunity. Together with Range Patagonian Grass-Fed Beef, we’re able to show consumers the commitment we all have to farm animal welfare and to comprehensive, transparent, independent certification.”
