The best BBQ Delivery Boxes in the UK from small sustainable British Farms
British farming, at its best, is renowned the world over – and for good reason. Farming in tune with nature means native breeds have evolved naturally to grow strong and healthy on the landscapes they are born on. This type of farming creates the healthiest, most nutritious and best tasting meat.
Sheep and cows fatten up nicely by foraging in fields, and the resulting lamb and beef taste of the terroir when they are allowed to do so. Truly free-range and organic chickens are meatier because they have developed good muscles. Similarly, the firmness of texture and depth of flavour is unparalleled in pork from pigs that have been free to roam and fed a healthy diet.
Buying direct from the farms is the best way to achieve this quality in taste and nutrition. Of course, not all of us are lucky enough to live near farms or have easy access to good butchers or farmers’ markets.
Fortunately, these farms are now being brought directly to our doors as meat boxes become ever more popular.
Here, we recommend some of our favourite organic, free-range and Pasture for Life meat delivery companies in no particular order, it just depends on what you’re looking for. All are brilliant in their unique ways!
The Live Frankly seal of approval:
These are really good food companies, doing good things. To be included in this list, each organic meat delivery company and free-range meat delivery company has been given the Live Frankly seal of approval. We are not a certification, but we talk with every brand and ask them to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about their ethical standards before we feature them. No brand is perfect – we’re all operating in an imperfect world – but only purpose-driven brands that are working to change things for the better are allowed on Live Frankly.
We ask that animal welfare and workers’ rights and pay are ensured across the supply chain, and want to know about their governance structures. This means you can be confident these brands are some of the most ethical and sustainable around. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
8 Organic meat delivery services – and the best regenerative and free-range options
Planton Farm
Why we rate Planton Farm’s meat delivery service:
Set among 80 acres of ancient trees and rolling pastureland, Planton Farm is a family-run regenerative farm in Shropshire. They raise pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle on 100% pasture and are leaders in ethical poultry innovation with their Impeckable Poultry project, exploring dual-purpose breeds for fairer egg and meat production. Their meat is some of the most tasty and ethically reared you can find.
Planton Farm also supports other farmers through its Roots to Regeneration accelerator, helping transition to regenerative systems.
Where delivers: Nationwide
When delivers: Every week, on a Thursday.
Delivery cost: Free for orders more than ÂŁ100, ÂŁ6 for orders less than ÂŁ100
Pick up option: Available 7 days a week from Planton Farm, between 8am and 5pm.
Minimum order amount: No minimum order
Meat arrives: Frozen
SHOP NOW: plantonfarm.co.uk
Fosse Meadows
Why we rate Fosse Meadows meat delivery service:
The USP of Fosse Meadows‘ chicken is that they are grown to 81 days. Why is this significant? Well, an average supermarket chicken is grown to around 35 days, free-range to 56 days and organic 70 days.
“A Fosse chicken lives longer, ranges further, and tastes better for it”.
This allows them to grow at a natural rate, antibiotic-free. They are also free-ranging and foraging across 40 acres in meadows free from herbicides or pesticides.
“We allow the pastures around our mobile chicken sheds to grow up naturally through summer to allow cover for the birds. This has the added bonus of providing habitat for insects, rodents, ground nesting birds, even the odd grass snake”.
When it comes to taste, this means the chicken has a deeper flavour and firmer texture, which makes for a satisfying and nutritious eat.
Fosse Meadows also produce their own 100% grass fed lamb and rare breed hogget, which is farmed in a sustainable rotation with the chickens.
Where delivers: Mainland UK. Unfortunately they are unable to deliver to Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands.
When delivers: Order by 9am Wednesday for a Friday delivery
Delivery cost: Free for orders over ÂŁ80 , ÂŁ5.95 for orders less than ÂŁ80
Minimum order amount: No minimum
Meat arrives: Fresh
SHOP NOW: fossemeadows.com
Pipers & Co
Why we rate Pipers & Co meat delivery service::
Pipers & Co are on a mission to connect their customers with food that’s nourishing for humans, farmed in tune with natural rhythms for the animals, and restores life to the land.
“The key thing is we are not a supermarket, we are a living, breathing tapestry of farms. There is necessary variation in how food is produced, but always with environmental, community and taste benefits at the forefront,” says founder Will Greig.
Where delivers: Mainland UK, the Channel Islands, and parts of the Scottish Highlands.
When delivers: Order by 1pm for next day delivery (Mon-Thurs)
Delivery cost: from ÂŁ3.95
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ30
Meat arrives: Frozen
SHOP NOW: pipers.co
Riverford Organic
Why we rate Riverford organic’s meat delivery service:
When it comes to organic meat box delivery, Riverford offers some of the highest ethics on the market – it’s organic, British and 100% grass-fed. Riverford are arable farmers so they work with a small group of West Country farmers to source their organic meat, and prepare it at their butchery. It operates with very little food waste and puts animal welfare at the forefront of everything it does.
Where delivers: Enter your postcode on this page to check if (and when) Riverford deliver to you
When delivers: Once a week, delivery day and time depends on where you live.
Delivery cost: No delivery cost
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ15
Meat arrives: Fresh and frozen
SHOP NOW: riverford.co.uk
Beacon Farms
Why we rate Beacon Farms meat delivery service:
Founded by three siblings with a deep rooted passion for good food and great farming, Beacon Farms is the result of generations of experience. With farmers on their mother’s side and butchers on their father’s, they have lived and breathed food production from farm gate to dinner plate.
In 2020, they took a leap and rented a small farm of their own. They chose to farm the traditional way with a modern, regenerative approach. Working with nature rather than against it, they began producing grass fed, wild and naturally raised meats of exceptional quality.
They began by delivering their produce to nearby butcher shops but it soon became a growing movement. As demand increased, they partnered with a trusted network of like-minded farmers to offer their produce directly to homes throughout the UK.
Where delivers: Mainland UK
When delivers: Next day, if ordered before 1pm
Delivery cost: Free delivery on all orders over ÂŁ85 or from ÂŁ3.95
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ30
Meat arrives: Frozen
SHOP NOW: beaconsfarm.co.uk
eatTelfit
Why we rate eatTelfit’s meat delivery service:
eatTelfit is an online farm shop and artisan butchery that partners with a number of small mixed farms practising regenerative farming in and around Yorkshire.
Their meats are prepared nose-to-tail by their artisan butchers and delivered to your door.
eatTelfit believe nature-friendly farming is key to landscape recovery across the country by minimising pesticide and synthetic fertiliser use, improving soil health, renewing woodlands, and utilising biodiversity to kick-start natural systems. The producers they work with all directly utilise this ancient method of farming and implement its techniques.
Where delivers: Most of the UK mainland
When delivers: Tuesday – Friday
Delivery cost: ÂŁ5.95 or free for orders over ÂŁ60.
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ30
Meat arrives: Frozen
SHOP NOW: eattelfit.com
Helen Browning’s Organic
Why we rate Helen Browning’s Organic meat delivery service:
This pioneering farm is named after farmer Helen Browning, who switched to farming organically at the family-run Eastbrook Farm in Wiltshire in 1986 – way before organic farming was trendy.
Their organic meat delivery offering includes a range of meat bundles featuring premium organic beef and pork products, perfect for a BBQ, from their free-ranging, dairy-bred, grass-fed animals.
The farm and the meat produced are 100% Soil Association organic certified and Helen says:
“I see first-hand the difference farming my land organically makes – from more bees and hedgerows, to contented, healthy animals, to lots of people gainfully working here and enthusiastic customers.”
Where delivers: Nationwide – but double check details if you live on the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scilly Isles, some remote areas of Scotland, and the Scottish islands
When delivers: Three days a week
Delivery cost: ÂŁ4.95 for mainland UK addresses
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ20
Meat arrives: Fresh
SHOP NOW: helenbrowningsorganic.co.uk
field&flower
Why we rate field&flower’s meat delivery service:
Looking for free-range and/or grass-fed British meat and locally caught fish delivered straight to your door?
field&flower was co-founded by fifth-generation farmer, James Field, and food-lover, James Flower (field&flower, geddit?). While Field assists in the farming of their produce, Flower helps source and approve all other suppliers. field&flower partner with some of the best independent West Country farmers and fishermen who share their value of high animal welfare and sustainability.
Operating as a subscription service means Field & Flower are able to source to order. To minimise waste they ask their customers to confirm their order four days before delivery. The day before delivery a butcher trims each cut to order and the kitchen teams press the burgers by hand and hand-tie the sausages, which is a nice touch. If there is excess, they send it to FareShare South West to provide meals for vulnerable people.
Where delivers: 99% of the UK
When delivers: Every day, Monday – Sunday
Delivery cost: Weekday deliveries are ÂŁ4.95. Weekend delivery is ÂŁ5.95.
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ39.50
Meat arrives: Fresh
SHOP NOW: fieldandflower.co.uk
Abel & Cole
Why we rate Abel & Cole’s meat delivery service:
One of the pioneering food box schemes, Abel & Cole started with organic vegetables more than 30 years ago. They now also sell non-organic products, and most match its sustainable, local and seasonal ethos.
If your aim is to eat less meat and better quality, the organic options are a no-brainer. And the fish is a good way to change things up even more.
Delivery is weekly, and your box gets dropped off by one of the brand’s signature vans.
As for the box, the company offers a recycling service with its subscription, which includes plastics, so the packing your food comes is guaranteed to be recycled properly.
Where delivers: Enter your postcode on this page to check if (and when) Abel & Cole deliver to you
When delivers: Once a week, delivery day and time depends on where you live.
Delivery cost: ÂŁ3.50
Minimum order amount: ÂŁ12
Meat arrives: Fresh and frozen
SHOP NOW: abelandcole.co.uk
About the author
