A crowdfunding model for pork products

Buitengewone Varkens is accepting investments in its herd of pigs in exchange for pork products over the next three years.

If crowdfunding can be applied to wind energy, honey and forest resources, then why not meat products as well? That, indeed, is just the premise behind Dutch Buitengewone Varkens, a company that accepts investments in its herd of pigs in exchange for pork products over the next three years. Interested consumers begin by investing EUR 100 in Buitengewone Varkens’ pigs, which are bred sustainably and allowed to live naturally outdoors in the Dutch forests and fields. Farmers, in turn, are paid fair wages for the work they perform. Investors, meanwhile, receive the right to pork products over the next three years — including chorizo, dry sausage, pate, coppa and ham — along with tickets to events, for a total value of EUR 150. Opportunities for restaurateurs are also available. Offering a compelling combination of benefits including status stories and (still) made here appeal, crowdfunded, farm-grown meat promises many of the same benefits as community-supported coffee and collectively produced wines, to name just two examples. One to emulate in your neck of the woods? Spotted by: Alex Nederlof