Meat lovers, rejoice; Carnivore Club, the exclusive meat-of-the-month club, launched Monday on the popular crowd-sourced funding site Indiegogo. Here’s how it works: each month, members receive a packed box filled with unique charcuterie, exotic terrines and locally crafted jerky from around the world right at their doorstep. Carnivore Club will specialize in cured meats and other meat treats from charcuterie artisans that can’t be found at local grocery stores or butchers shops.
Carnivore Club will retail its boxed collection for a relatively modest $50 a month. It will include a selection of four to six cured meats, ranging from duck breast prosciutto and Pata Negra Iberico ham, to cult favourite Culatello, bison jerky and five game terrine – to name a few. They will offer a new surprise each month, leaving that inner carnivore craving more. Based in Toronto, it will service customers in Canada and the United States.
Like many start-ups, founders Tim Ray and Matthew Cloutier have turned to Indiegogo to transform their vision to reality and seek to raise $10,000 in crowd-funded capital via the platform. Through Indiegogo, funders can pledge as little as $2 to show basic support, or $50 for a “premier Carnivore Club box,” which includes five carefully curated meats packed in a numbered, autographed box. The top donors – those pledging $500 – are anointed King or Queen Carnivore, and entitled to a 12-month subscription to Carnivore Club with a limited edition t-shirt packed inside the inaugural box. Carnivore Club will, however, operate with or without the entire amount of funds raised.
“If our initial video is any indication, we plan to develop a top-tier e-commerce brand while delivering a little humour, exceptional customer service, and an outstanding product assortment to our members,” said Ray. “Also, we recently put together an all-star advisory board to help propel Carnivore Club to success, comprised of top talent with exceptional backgrounds in business, eCommerce, law, apparel and corporate and digital communications.”
If past successes are any indication, Carnivore Club will catch on in no time, as both co-founders, self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneurs,” have a proven track record of successful entrepreneurial endeavours. Ray started Foodscrooge, the successful e-commerce business that provided daily deals through group buying in the grocery market space, and generated national attention throughout Canada, including a successful appearance on CBC Television’s Dragon’s Den. In 2011, Torstar acquired Foodscrooge, operating today under the WagJag Grocery banner.
Cloutier has worked on building companies and products all his life. As a teenager, he launched a successful youth magazine called One80, which was done in partnership with Metroland Media. He the founded Foodea.com and ran Food & Beverage World International based in California.