Adam Torres and Kevin Pallaoro discuss GrassFed Foods.
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Show Notes:
How does a brand like Teton Waters Ranch find equilibrium and thrive in today’s highly volatile, highly competitive meat industry? In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Kevin Pallaoro, President & CEO at GrassFed Foods, explore Kevin’s journey as an entrepreneur and GrassFed Foods.
About Kevin Pallaoro
Energetic self-starter who delivers accurate and consistent results from strategy to execution. An articulate leader who specializes in partnering with executive teams to engage organizations and drive results. Expert in finance, planning, strategy, and business management. Demonstrated success with building teams, mentoring, and guiding sustainable growth.
About GrassFed Foods
GrassFed Foods, LLC, is the nation’s largest grass fed beef platform. It is comprised of industry leaders, SunFed Ranch and Teton Waters Ranch, forming one comprehensive grass fed beef platform that provides grocers and foodservice customers with access to a convenient, turnkey solution for grass fed beef products in the U.S.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today I have Kevin Pallaro on the line and he’s president and CEO over at Teton Waters Ranch and SunFed Ranch.
Welcome to the show, Kevin. Hi, Adam. It’s a pleasure to be on. I’m very excited to be here. All right. So I’m excited about today’s topic. So study leadership, bold growth, thriving in 2025 volatile meat industry. And Kevin, you’re probably like what Adam, what do you mean? What do you know about me? Let me tell you something.
I know. I knew you were going to call me out. You’re like, you didn’t come. You don’t know anything about this. Let me tell you. So we’ve been covering, I’ve been learning more and I’ve had some meat judges. I’ve had some, a lot of actually influential people in the meat industry through the years on the show.
And it all started with, we support the Texas FFA and I’ve been going out to their conference now for the last, Three years or so, and I’ve done a solid, you know, 40, 50 interviews. So I’ve been getting more and more into me and I’m a, you know, a wannabe rancher, but I don’t really have a ranch and I live in LA downtown, so I’m definitely not a poser, but you know, we can all have aspirations.
Well, that’s, super cool. I didn’t know that about you and. I’d love to learn more at some point on how you got involved with the FFA, which is the Future Farmers of America. Oh, yeah.
Tell me a little bit more about, like, how you started in meat where all this started for you. I actually grew up on a cattle ranch in Colorado, and I was part of a organization called 4 H and 4 H is something, that you join as young as 8 years old. My daughters are actually in 4 H today.
Wow. And they do really cool things all the way from animals to cake decorating or anything that can inspire a child. And so I did animals when I was child and raised mini steers. Pigs and other animals and for agent and selling those animals through that program was actually what put me through college.
So that’s really cool that you’re involved in the FFA and I’m yeah, I love it. I’ll tell you, it’s one of my favorite things and a lot of the individuals they call members that are part of that. Also, it crosses over to 4 H and the whole, you know, the whole community of this. And I remember doing an interview with with Gordon Davis, who he’s he’s a legend in the meat.
Science industry and like with a professor Texas Tech, all kinds of things. Like he was a really pivotal person there. And I see some of like the individuals that he’s influenced through the years. And I’ll tell you to hear some of these I’m going to say kids, even though we say members, young adults, whatever, to hear them talk about the craft of meat.
Ranching, other things, and even the tech side, like sometimes when people think about farming or ranching, they’re thinking about like, and I’m not, these aren’t my words, but this is the words that the kids would use. They’re like, it’s just a, you know, a kid in a field with a cow. And it’s like, no, it’s not like that.
It’s a terrible branding. And one of my, Things that I aspire to do is to continue to bring the, work of not only these members in 4 H and the meat industry and just our entire food ecosystem for things like food security and like just to make sure that the country’s educated on the importance of this because I think we’ve gotten pretty far away from understanding What that means.
And we think that food just comes from the grocery store. Now, a lot of people in cities, at least it doesn’t come from the grocery store. You know, there’s a lot of people behind that gets it to the grocery store. Right. Yeah. A lot of people and a lot of passion. And I think organizations like that. showing kids and showing young adults the power of what you’re doing, how you do things.
I think those organizations are fantastic for leadership qualities. Oh, yeah. Just the public speaking everything coming out of those programs. It’s just such a great thing for kids, and, and you literally sent chills up my spine just talking about food security, understanding where our food comes from, because it’s, scary how few people really realize, like, the complexities of making sure that there’s good, healthy, nutritious food on people’s plates, and, how much food out there is not good, healthy, and nutritious, and, why? let’s switch it up a bit, Kevin. I want to spend some time here Teton Water Ranch and SunFed Ranch. Tell me a little bit more about the infrastructure and the business. Yeah, yeah, so I’m again, President and CEO of a company called GrassFed Foods, which we own Teton Waters Ranch and SunFed Ranch, which are 2 100 percent grass fed, grass finished, pasture raised brands.
And what that means is we sell only beef. We sell Only grass that beef and only kind of the best of the best of grass fed beef. So they’ve only ever eaten grass. They’re never given hormones, never given antibiotics, never fed animal byproducts, never fed corn. They’re out on open pastures, living life the way that nature intended and.
we really strongly believe in that because not only is it better for the animal, but it’s been proven it’s significantly better for the environment beef supports regenerative agriculture helps sequester carbon. So, helping with greenhouse grasses, and then it’s better for people’s health. Like, what a lot of people don’t realize is far away from the way we used to get meat we’ve really come.
And one thing that’s kind of scary that people don’t know is, currently in a beef market that’s, it’s almost unheard of today. Every year, the United States Department of Agriculture comes out with a report and they say, hey, how many cattle are out there in the US? And this year, the report came out and there’s about just shy of 87 million cattle.
In the U. S. And there’s been over 88 million cattle in the U. S. Every year since 1952. So there’s less cattle today than there were in 1952. Wow. And there’s actually just as much meat today less cattle. And you’re like, well, how can that be? And it’s because the average animal, the average size of these cows is up over 35 percent and I’m guessing Kevin, that’s evolution, right?
That’s a joke
evolution, right? Like natural evolution. Like, God just decided, like, you know, let’s Sorry, I didn’t know. Let’s make these animals just so fat they can barely move. Oh, man. I understand. Why is that a problem? By the way? Why is that a problem? So people are educated on that. What that is, we’re feeding these animals, really dense grains and feeds.
We’re adding hormones antibiotics, things that are unnatural to these animals to really get the size of the animal much larger to help feed the world. So, in the course of efficiency and feeding the world, we’re doing a great job, but it’s not the best thing on the animal. And, these things translate to things that go into our body, and that’s not what we stand for.
We, as a company stand for, you know, if you’re going to eat food, eat good, high quality food, that’s good for your body. Grass said beef, like, it. As a much improved that profile so really high and Omega sixes are sorry, really high and Omega threes and low and Omega sixes were conventional piece.
I, and the Omega six is lower in the Omega threes and. are off the charts on grass with beef. So we really feel like we’re doing the right thing for the animal. We’re doing the right thing for the planet and we’re doing the right thing for people’s health. And that’s something we’re, standing behind.
I’m going to call it niche. How does this niche, like, how do you find an equilibrium in today’s like, the, market it’s competitive. It’s like, you do you find that equilibrium? Good question. I think it’s, really hard to find an equilibrium in today’s market, in particular, just given how many cattle are out there and pressures on inflation.
And one of the things we’ve tried to do. Is say how can we help grass fed and help that grow across the board? And the 1 thing we’ve really focused on is when you have an animal, there’s lots of parts and pieces that fall off of that animal. And so, A head of beef is going to have, really great ribeyes and tenderloins and burgers and all those things.
And for those farmers, there’s a lot of demand out there for those high end cuts. But those farmers and the people processing those animals really struggle if they don’t have a home for everything. And so what we’ve tried to do is say, hey, let us help by taking, A higher percentage of the fat and some of like the roasts and the things that people don’t like as much and let’s put those into products, particularly on the Teton brand that are more accessible for people.
So, you know, you could go to the grocery store, buy some grass fed steaks and they’re going to cost you a pretty penny. Man, don’t I know it. It’s getting up there, ain’t it? I’m like, you just, I know what I’m having tonight now that you’re, making me hungry over here. Continue. I’m sorry, but you’re right.
It’s not getting any cheaper. Yeah, it’s a thing. No, it’s not getting any cheaper. And so we said, well, how can we help the farmer and get grass fed? In as many Americans as we can, and the thought was, well, what if we came out with hot dogs, sausages, kind of more value items that help take some of those cuts that are hard for the farmer to sell.
Put them into products, and maybe we can get them into products that are more accessible for people like you and me to go to the grocery store and be like, yeah, well, these hot dogs are more expensive than a pork or chicken hot dog. But, this is high quality and it’s getting, more grass fed into more people’s mouths and that’s how we’re trying to get there.
It’s just finding different ways to help fall parties. Yeah, one clarification I want to make here when you say grass fed could you go through, I mean, there’s different, thought processes on grass feathers, grass fed, grass finish, grass, like, there’s a lot of different things that are on packages.
Maybe could you do just a little bit of a primer, like, and what people are actually buying? Because I feel like also sometimes when people are buying stuff, they think they’re buying one thing, but. Let’s just say marketing’s clever. Maybe they’re getting something else. No, it’s funny you bring that up. I told you I knew a little bit about me over here, Kevin.
You thought you were coming on like a not real meat friendly podcast, man. I’m impressed. I love it. I’m gonna have to make sure we we get you plenty of. Some dogs and burgers, man, that that’s the way to my heart. Come on, man. Go ahead. Don’t I’m blushing. No, it’s so interesting because, you know, there’s the term greenwashing out there.
I know, like, the term natural. Is kind of been is been known to be a greenwashing term and I spent what 6 years of my career in 1 of the biggest organic produce companies in the nation. And a lot of people felt like organic screen washing, but it’s really not because it’s so strictly rigid from the U.
S. D. A. But, grass said, right? Definitely can be and and what happens is, at the end of the day, every single head of cattle is grass fed at some point in their life. Yeah. So the rancher raises them, they’re out on the farmer’s fields, they’re eating grass and then at some point in their life, typically call it a year and a half or so, the high majority of them go to feed lots and they’re fed, Grains and very dense, unnatural materials to make them put on a lot of weight really, really quick and so every animal is grass fed.
And so, a lot of companies kind of figured like, hey, I can, call this grass fed and. So, what we stand for is grass fed, grass finished, and pasture raised, meaning they’ve always eaten grass, they’ve always been on pasture, never confined, never in a feedlot, which if you don’t see grass finished or pasture raised, there’s a pretty good chance.
Yeah, that’s not an accident that they’d left that off. Like, yeah, because that’s a, that’s another expense of quality and there’s a different thing there. So if they, in my opinion, I’m not, you’re not saying you to say this, but these are my words. If they, if it was the case, there’s no way their packaging designer was going to miss that thing because that’s a big benefit.
Go ahead. Please. Well, and as sad as this is, like, there are companies out there. Yeah. That are selling grass fed grass finished and these cattle are in a feedlot eating grass pellets. Oh, man, you just now. Thank you. Thank you. Kevin. You just now threw me off, man. I didn’t know that. That’s a go ahead. Yeah, it’s BS and Mike is trying to hold back my language. Sometimes. Yeah, they got me, man. I hate it. You think you, you think you’re going and doing one thing and then you’re like, man, they still got me. I was trying and they got me, but this is why, honestly, like all kidding aside, this is why I was excited to, like, I like bringing people on the show so people can know so that they can even look for brands, look for it.
things like grass fed foods. Like there has to be brands and ways to, you have to be closer to the brand. And I think it’s a big testament to you and your team and your PR people that booked you on the show, because without doing that, like, and you doing your part as a CEO and even educating the public, even so that they can look for other brands too, you know, but.
You doing that, like once upon a time, you didn’t have to do that, right? Like it was just people knew or they were educated or maybe the product was different, but now in today with the type of markets and all the things we’ve been talking about, like food secured and all the other things, it’s like, man, we want to make sure that we know what we’re putting in our bodies.
Exactly. Yeah, and that’s like, 1 of the things that was truly an unlock for us as a company was I took over as the CEO. I’ve been with the company about 3 years, but took over as CEO about a year ago. And as I reflected on it with the team, I was like, you know, We kind of have this unstated mission and unstated values, but we’ve never really put together, like, the mission and the values, like, firm on paper.
And, we sat down as a team and said, like, you know, let’s put down what is our stated mission down firm on paper? What are our values? And, maybe this comes back to me growing up as, a young farmer, rancher kid. But, you know, my personal number 1 value and my, my daughters and my family know it, and it translates to the company I’m leading is truth.
And when you look at what a lot of companies do, there’s a lot of untruthfulness out there. And 1 of our big things is like. Unless I feel confident that I’m, I have no regrets of something being on the front page of a newspaper, I probably shouldn’t do it. That’s a good one. And that’s not a lot to help guide us and, those kinds of things.
And you look at these other companies that sometimes, you know, maybe they’re feeding pellets or maybe they’re injecting their animals with things that help them grow bigger and make a little bit more money. And that’s just not what we stand for, so. Yeah, well, Kevin, and this has been a lot of fun having you on the show today.
And it’s just a great conversation. I’m glad to bring this information to my audience so that they’re better educated into what they’re, you know, what they’re spending their money on, what they’re spending their, you know, their, their calories on. I’ll say for myself, I’m like, man, I don’t want to waste calories on some garbage.
Not just the money part, but I look at my, I look at my daily intake is spend. I spent those calories on that. Oh, come on, man. Yeah, how do people follow up? How do they keep in touch with the brand? How do they follow the journey? Kevin? How do they connect? Yeah they can find us on either Teton waters ranch dot com sun fed ranch dot com, which is pretty limited kind of a West Coast brand.
Teton waters is really the main 1. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, all the socials and, you know, just reach out to and we’re a small team. And we’re more than happy to answer questions for folks. So reach out fantastic for everybody listening. Just so, you know, we’ll definitely put the links in the show notes.
So you can just click on the link and head right on over and speaking to the audience. If this is your 1st time with mission matters, and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show each and every day. We’re bringing you new content, new ideas and hopefully new inspiration.
along the way and your jo hit that subscribe or fo man, thanks again for com appreciate it. Thank you