Thursday Jul 03, 2025

#106 - Carrie Richards @ Richards Regenerative - Wholesale Over DTC, Regenerative in Schools, and the Problem with Big Brands

On this episode of the ReGen Brands Podcast, we're talking with Carrie Richards – the fourth-generation rancher behind Richards Regenerative.

Carrie takes us through her incredible journey from scrappy beef sales out of a friend's freezer to supplying over 40 school districts and major retailers like Sprouts.

We dive deep into the challenges and contradictions of building a regenerative beef business – from dealing with misleading country-of-origin labeling and predatory brand partnerships to navigating the real math behind carcass utilization, processing costs, and wholesale margins.

Carrie also shares her hopes in the future use of nutrient density data, her fears about the future of the cattle market, and the launch of Harvest Path – a software platform purpose-built to help small and mid-sized ranchers thrive.

Episode Highlights:

🐄 Transitioning their family’s 6,500 acre ranch to regenerative

🛠️ “We had to build a meat company to become a finishing operation”

🌾 Rotating animals across three regions in California

🥩 Their unique model which is 90% wholesale

🏫 Serving 40+ school districts via Beef 2 Institution

👎 “The big brands use us as a marketing piece – and then disappear.”

⚙️ Harvest Path: their custom system that became a software business

📉 Concerns related to a booming cattle market and cheap imports

🔍 The hope in nutrition data and working with Edacious

💡 Musings on the state of the movement and where we’re headed

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