Verde Farms, a brand of organic, 100% grass-fed, 100% pasture-raised beef, first began 20 years ago. More recently, in 2023, the hormone-free, antibiotic-free beef brand brought on new leadership: Brad Johnson joined Verde as president. His success with increasing brand distribution, expanding profits, and establishing sustainable CPG best practices brought him to the position of Verde Farms CEO.
Founders Dana and Pablo first recognized the demand in the market for grass-fed, organic beef products in 2004, Johnson said. The pair wanted to offer beef to consumers that featured clean, better-for-you characteristics.
"That is when they decided to create a brand that would offer consumers all of the premium attributes that they love in one easy to understand package,” Johnson said. “For us that means bringing people the best tasting beef they have ever had that is also organic, 100% grass-fed, humane, and embraces regenerative farming practices.”
Verde Farms’ beef comes from various family farmers in North America, Uruguay and Australia, typically featuring Hereford and Angus breeds. Johnson views the brand’s sourcing as a point of pride for the brand. “Our unique sourcing relationships ensure that our fill rates are consistently excellent and enable us to deliver high quality at a fair value,” he said.
Verde is the only organic beef with land-to-market verification for regenerative farming. Johnson said the brand utilizes regenerative farming practices for two reasons: it’s better for everyone involved, including the consumers, ranchers, animals and environment, and these practices are what consumers want. “Consumers clearly see this as a benefit and are looking for brands that agree,” Johnson said. “Regenerative farming is a great convergence of our values and the consumer’s desires.”
As a clean-label beef brand, brand messaging is very important to Verde Farms. The brand clearly communicates its better-for-you, sustainability-forward approach on its packaging and media assets.
When approaching marketing for the natural grass-fed beef category, Johnson applauds the Verde brand for their ability to connect with consumer demand. “This is a complicated category that can be intimidating and confusing,” Johnson said. “There are all measures of claims and attributes. I think our marketing team stands out for their ability to create a brand that appeals on an emotional level and fits with our target consumers’ lifestyle and values.”
Recently, Verde launched a new four-pack of 80/20 burger patties. With this new product release, Verde hopes to make storage and cooking easier for beef consumers. “The footprint of the packaging is also 30% smaller than traditional burger trays, making this a win-win for customers and consumers alike,” Johnson said.
The brand also recently announced expanded distribution for some of its retail partners, in addition to new distribution partnerships in the mid-Atlantic.
