Marksbury Farm

What Marksbury Farm does

Marksbury Farm Market is a privately held, vertically integrated pasture-based meat company headquartered in Lancaster, Kentucky. Founded in August 2010 by partners Preston Correll, Greg Correll, John-Mark Hack, and Richard McAlister, the company operates a 12,000-square foot USDA-inspected humane harvesting and processing facility designed to Temple Grandin's specifications for low-stress animal handling. Its core technology is a proprietary animal ID tracking system that maintains each animal's unique identifier from farm arrival through final packaging, enabling full farm-to-package traceability that the company describes as unique within its region.

The company sells 100% grass fed and grass-finished beef, pastured pork, free range chicken, and wild caught salmon across three primary channels. Direct-to-consumer revenue is generated through an e-commerce storefront with nationwide shipping and local pickup, supported by two company-owned Pasture restaurant and butcher shop locations in Lancaster and Lexington, Kentucky (the latter at The Barn at Summit at Fritz Farm, opened 2017 with Josiah Correll as managing partner). Wholesale revenue flows through a partnership with What Chefs Want (with secondary partner Creation Gardens), placing product in restaurants across Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, and Colorado, plus retail grocery placements at Whole Foods Market and Kroger across the southeast and midwest. The company also offers custom USDA processing services for outside farmers. Restaurant menu pricing is standardized at $10 per meal, with discount-code-driven online promotions. Marksbury employs approximately 70 team members and is privately held with no disclosed external funding or parent company; in February 2023 it resolved a Department of Labor finding of 7 child labor violations with an $8,893 fine.

Name

Marksbury Farm

Legal name

Marksbury Farm Market

Website

https://marksburyfarm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Marksbury Farm Market is a privately held, vertically integrated Kentucky pasture-based meat company operating a USDA-inspected processing facility and selling grass fed beef, pastured pork, free range chicken, and wild caught salmon through DTC e-commerce, two Pasture restaurants, and wholesale to grocers and restaurants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pasture-Raised Meat Production

NAICS

Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering (311611), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (3116), Hog and Pig Farming (1122)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200), Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150)

akta.pro primary industry

Hog Slaughtering (Harvest & Evisceration) (AFANABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sausage & Ground Pork Manufacturing (Fresh & Cooked) (AFANABAF), Pork Wholesale (Primal/Subprimal, Boxed Pork) (AFAIADAB), Contract Hog Growing (Integrator/Production Contracts) (AFAEAEAK), Farmers’ Markets & Farm Stands (Fresh Food) (CRAHAHAE)

Keywords

• Grass fed beef
• Pasture raised pork
• USDA meat processing
• Humanely raised meat
• Artisan butcher shop

Headquarters

HQ city

Lancaster

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Direct E-commerce Sales: Online storefront (shop.marksburyfarm.com) selling grass fed beef, pastured pork, free range chicken, and wild caught salmon directly to consumers with nationwide shipping and local pickup.
2. Restaurant and Retail Sales: Operation of Pasture restaurant and butcher shop in Lancaster, KY (and a second location in Lexington, KY) offering prepared foods, grocery items, and retail meat sales.
3. Wholesale B2B Sales: Wholesale distribution of grass fed beef and pastured pork to restaurants, retailers, and other businesses through partnership with What Chefs Want.
4. Processing Services: Provides custom beef and pork processing services for farmers and other customers at their USDA-inspected facility.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Marksbury Farm Market produces and sells 100% grass fed beef, pastured pork, free range chicken, wild caught salmon, and beef tallow raised without antibiotics, steroids, or hormones. The company operates a vertically integrated model spanning family-farm sourcing, USDA-inspected humane processing, restaurant/butcher retail, e-commerce, and wholesale distribution to grocers and restaurants. It also provides custom meat processing services for other farmers at its 12,000-square foot Kentucky facility.

Product overview

Marksbury Farm Market operates as a pasture-based meat company offering 100% grass fed beef, pastured pork, free range chicken, and wild caught salmon. The company combines direct-to-consumer retail through its Pasture restaurant and online shop with wholesale distribution to restaurants and retailers like Kroger and Whole Foods. Their integrated model includes a USDA-inspected 12,000 sq ft processing facility in Lancaster, KY, enabling full traceability from farm to plate. The company also provides custom meat processing services for other farmers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 100% Grass Fed Beef Pasture-raised, grass-fed and grass-finished beef products high in Omega 3, Omega 6, and antioxidants. All beef is free of antibiotics, steroids, and added hormones. Sold to individual consumers and wholesale customers.
• Pastured Pork Pasture-raised pork from hogs with continuous access to pasture or woodland environments. No antibiotics, hormones, or steroids. Hogs are less than 14 months old at slaughter. Sold to consumers, restaurants, and retailers.
• Free Range Chicken Free range chicken products sourced from partner farmers with access to the outdoors. Sold through retail and wholesale channels.
• Wild Caught Salmon Wild caught Alaskan salmon from sustainable fisheries. Sold via online shop and retail channels.
• Beef Tallow Rendered beef tallow made from the suet of 100% grass fed beef. Rich in vitamins and nutrients with high smoke point for searing, roasting, and frying. No additives.
• Pasture Restaurant and Butcher Shop (Lancaster, KY) On-site restaurant and butcher shop at 7929 Nicholasville Road in Lancaster, KY, offering grass fed beef burgers, pastured pork sandwiches, daily specials, and local grocery items. Open Mon-Fri 11am-4pm with meals priced at $10.
• Pasture Restaurant (Lexington, KY at The Barn at Summit at Fritz Farm) Second Pasture restaurant location at The Barn at Summit at Fritz Farm shopping and dining destination. Features fried chicken as flagship item, plus grass-fed beef burgers and roasted chicken. Open Mon-Fri 11am-4pm.
• Marksbury Farm Online Shop Direct online store for nationwide shipping and local pickup of grass fed beef, pastured pork, and other products. Local pickup orders placed before noon are ready the next weekday at the Pasture restaurant.
• Wholesale Beef and Pork Wholesale distribution of grass fed beef and pastured pork to restaurants, retailers, and other businesses. Distributed through What Chefs Want (warehouses in KY, OH, IN, TN, NC, MO, AL, GA, IL, CO) and Creation Gardens.
• Custom Meat Processing Services USDA-inspected meat processing and humane harvesting services for beef cattle and hogs. Includes custom processing for farmers who bring their animals for processing, with full traceability maintained throughout. Artisan-level cutting and processing quality.

Quantifiable outcome

• Animals raised without antibiotics, steroids, or hormones
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• What Chefs WantcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarksbury partners with What Chefs Want as their primary wholesale distribution partner. What Chefs Want delivers Marksbury's grass fed beef and pastured pork to restaurants and retailers across multiple states including Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, and Colorado. The partnership enables commercial viability while maintaining Marksbury's quality standards.
• Creation GardensminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarksbury mentions partnering with Creation Gardens alongside What Chefs Want to deliver their grass fed beef and pastured pork to commercial kitchens.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Polyface Farm: Iconic multi-species rotational-grazing farm in Virginia that sells pastured beef, pork, poultry, and rabbit via on-farm pickup, restaurant, and regional retail — closely aligned with Marksbury's stewardship narrative and direct farmer relationships, though without a USDA facility of its own.
• Country Natural Beef: Cooperative of family ranches in the Western U.S. producing grass- and pasture-finished beef for natural and conventional retailers like Whole Foods and natural-foods distributors. Comparable as a multi-rancher, identity-preserved grass-fed brand selling into similar grocery accounts.
• White Oak Pastures: Vertically integrated, multi-species pasture-based farm in Bluffton, Georgia with on-site USDA-inspected processing of beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and rabbit, supplying DTC and restaurants. The clearest U.S. analogue of Marksbury's vertically integrated, provenance-first model with similar geographic and operational profile.
• Joyce Farms: Heritage-breed, pasture-raised beef, poultry (including Poulet Rouge chicken), and pork distributed to chefs and natural retailers nationwide. Comparable on the chef-driven B2B plus premium-retail distribution mix that Marksbury pursues through What Chefs Want and Pasture chef accounts.
• Belcampo: Pasture-raised, organic-certified beef and meat company that operates its own USDA-inspected processing plus owned butcher-shop/restaurant retail in California — a near-mirror of Marksbury's farm+processing+Pasture restaurant model. Highly relevant for assessing the economics of integrating restaurants with a small processing facility.
• Verde Farms: Grass-fed beef and lamb supplier focused on B2B distribution to restaurants and natural retailers across the U.S. Useful comparable for assessing wholesale-cheer channel economics against Marksbury's What Chefs Want partnership.
• Niman Ranch: The most directly comparable peer: a network of independent family farmers producing pasture-raised pork, beef, lamb, and poultry under a strict welfare and sustainability protocol, distributed to Whole Foods, fine-dining chefs, and DTC. Marksbury and Niman both operate vertical coordination from farm through processing under a verified-provenance narrative, and Niman selling at similar premium retail and foodservice accounts makes it the closest read-across on pricing, channel mix, and scale.
• US Wellness Meats (Grassland Beef): Direct-to-consumer and wholesale grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and seafood shipper marketing verified-American-grass-fed cuts. Comparable on the DTC nationwide shipping model that Marksbury runs via shop.marksburyfarm.com.
• Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed: 100% grass-fed beef brand sourcing from a network of U.S. ranchers with full lifetime-grass verification, distributed via DTC, retailers, and foodservice. Closely comparable single-species grass-fed positioning, though without Marksbury's owned processing or restaurant layer.

Broad incumbents

• Applegate Farms: The largest U.S. natural and organic prepared-meat brand (owned by Hormel), selling organic/no-antibiotic pork, beef, chicken, and deli meats through mainstream grocery. Relevant as the scale incumbent that Marksbury's premium/regional positioning must coexist with on Whole Foods and Kroger shelves.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/marksburyfarm
• Instagraminstagram.com/marksburyfarm
• Xx.com/marksburyfarm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Marksbury Farm