UPDATE: As of June 25, 2018, Zaycon Fresh has suspended operations. Read the details at the bottom of this post!
If you’ve been in the frugal food space for any amount of time, you’ve likely heard about Zaycon Fresh Foods.
Finding quality meat – that’s affordable – is one of the trickiest aspects of eating healthy food on a budget. Zaycon realized this, and stepped into the marketplace to offer solution.
I personally have friends who love Zaycon and only order their meat through them. But I had questions and concerns of my own.
This past summer, I placed my first order so I could give you an honest review of Zaycon, and hopefully answer the questions you have about them.
About Zaycon Foods
Zaycon Foods is a meat distributor. They work very closely with local farms to bring you fresh meat that has never been frozen. Essentially, they cut out the middle man and bring you minimally processed meat straight from the farm.
Zaycon offers meat in bulk. For example, chicken comes in a 40 pound box, lean ground beef comes in a 40 pound box and bacon comes in a 36 pound box. If you need or want just one pound of chicken or beef, you’re not going to get that from Zaycon.
At the same time though, buying in bulk is one of the best ways to save on groceries. Not everyone has the resources to buy from a farmer, and even if you did, you might not have the freezer room!
Zaycon is a great compromise to that problem, letting you buy meat in bulk without buying whole animals at one time.
The Types of Meat Zaycon Offers and Current Pricing
As of this writing, Zaycon Fresh Foods offers the following products. I’ve included prices on those that are available in my area right now, but this is subject to change. Be sure to verify the price on this page before placing your order!
Chicken/Turkey (fresh)
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts ($1.89/lb x 40 lbs = $75.60/case)
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs ($1.99/lb x 30 lbs = $59.70/case)
- Chicken Tenderloins ($3.19/lb x 30 lbs = $95.70/case
- 90/10 Ground Turkey
- Boneless Turkey Breast Roast ($4.29/lb x 24 lbs = $102.96/case)
Beef
- 93/7 Ground Beef ($3.99/lb x 40 lbs = $159.60/case)
- 80/20 Ground Beef (2.99/lb x 40 lbs = $119.60/case)
- Prime Rib ($13.99/lb x 12 lbs = $167.88/case)
- Kansas City Strip Steaks ($8.49/lb x 14 lbs = $118.86/case)
- Angus Ribeye Steaks ($9.99/lb x 14 lbs = $139.86/case)
- Whole Beef Tenderloins ($19.99/lb x 12 lbs = $239.88/case)
- All Beef Hot Dogs
- Premium Skirt Steaks
Pork
- Center Cut Pork Loin Chops ($2.89/lb x 24 lbs = $69.36/case)
- Premium Hickory Smoked Bacon ($3.79/lb x 36 lbs = $136.44/case)
- Pork Sausage Links ($2.49/lb x 20 lbs = $49.80/case)
- Ribs
- Premium Pork Tenderloin
- Sweet Italian Sausage
Seafood/Fish
- Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets ($8.99/lb x 20 lbs = $179.80/case)
- Wild Argentine Red Shrimp ($7.99/lb x 20 lbs = $159.80/case)
Other
- Chicken Waffle Bites ($3.89/lb x 20 lbs = $77.80/case)
- Breaded Chicken Breast Fritters
Because availability varies depending on where you live, you might not be able to get all of these cuts. I personally haven’t seen hot dogs, skirt steaks or sausage in my area (yet), but items are definitely seasonal. You can see what’s available in your area on this page.
The Quality of the Meat
One of the biggest questions I get from readers about Zaycon Foods is this:
Is Zaycon meat organic?
The short answer, no…. But – Zaycon does have strict standards to the quality of their meat.
- Their boneless skinless chicken breasts are hormone-free, cage-free and antibiotic-free… BUT, the feed is not promised to be non-GMO because of possible cross contamination.
- Their super lean ground beef though, comes from pastured, grass-fed and grain-finished cows.
- The bacon contains no artificial wood smoke flavor or monosodium glutamate (MSG – one of the top 5 additives to avoid), but it does contain nitrates and sugar.
(If all of this doesn’t make sense, here’s a cheat sheet of common meat labeling terms.)
In short, their meat is not considered organic or strictly grass-fed or pastured. HOWEVER, they have very high standards and choose farms that function as organic and pastured. They just might not necessarily be certified organic (which is a costly and time-consuming process that doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality anyway).
And if you have a question about the quality of a certain cut of meat, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get in touch with Zaycon and ask!
Personally, I view Zaycon as one step up from typical conventional grocery store meat. Every family has to decide what their own real food priorities are though, and then shop accordingly.
Psst – Understanding your real food priorities is one of my lessons in my course Grocery Budget Bootcamp. Afterall, how will you know HOW to spend your money if you don’t know WHAT to spend it on? Because I personally teach this class, enrollment opens only three times a year. Sign up HERE to get on the waitlist and be notified when class is open!
How it Works
Due to the nature of buying in bulk, shopping with Zaycon is slightly different than going to the grocery store. However, it’s a very simple process:
1. Visit Zaycon online. Shop by products OR shop by location.
I think it’s more efficient to shop by location first, and then if you don’t find what you’re looking for, try searching by products.
2. Enter your zip code and hit “search.” By default, you will see the locations closet to you first.
3. Scroll through several locations to get an idea of what’s available in your area. A few things to note:
- Zaycon’s default distance isn’t always “real world” accurate. The closest location to me (mileage-wise) actually takes me longer than another one, because of the traffic in the area. Be sure to look at several locations before deciding on one that fits your schedule.
- Pay attention to the pick-up times. You only have 30 minutes to pick up your order, and the time frames are NOT consistent across locations.
- The pick-up dates are at least one month and up to 5 months out. If you need meat sooner, head to the grocery store.
4. When you find something you like, click the “Purchase” button next to the CORRECT date/time stamp under the CORRECT location.
5. Adjust the quantities of what you’d like to order on the next page and click “Add to Cart.”
6. When you’re ready to check out, review your order INCLUDING the date, time and location. Even if you’re sure, be doubly sure.
7. Click the “Checkout” button and complete your purchase.
My Personal Experience and Honest Review of Zaycon Foods
UPDATE: Zaycon Fresh has suspended operations and is no longer making deliveries. Read the details below!
While testing out Zacyon Foods, I ordered the product that made them famous and is still one of their most popular items, the boneless skinless chicken breasts. I even took some video for you guys so you can really see (almost) first hand what the Zaycon experience is like!
The Pick Up Process
The pick-up process took me 2 minutes MAX:
- I drove up to the man processing orders
- I gave him my last name and he verified my purchase against his list
- He opened my truck and laid a plastic sheet down
- He pulled one box of chicken breasts from the Zaycon truck and put it in my truck and closed the door.
- He wished me good day.
If I could give Zaycon a million points for ease of pick-up, I would. For this fact alone I will re-order from them!
Un-boxing the Chicken
My one box contained 40 pounds of chicken, divided into four 10 lb bags. About two-thirds of the chicken breasts were still attached to each other, so I set up a station in my kitchen to cut them apart.
Processing the Chicken
I’ve heard horror stories of it taking upwards of 4 hours to “process” Zaycon chicken (i.e. cut apart the breasts and bag them up for the freezer), so I blocked off my entire afternoon to dedicate to this process.
Fortunately, it took me only 45 minutes. I meant to take a video of this too, but my hands were covered in chicken, and chicken on my phone (and in my hair) is kind of gross, so I opted out.
Here’s how I processed the chicken quickly:
- Start with an empty and clean sink (clean as in you actually cleaned it, not just cleared out the dishes).
- Empty all the chicken breasts into one side of the sink. Discard the plastic, but keep the boxes!
- Next to that side of the sink, set-up a clean cutting board with a clean knife.
- Pick up a pair of chicken breasts, cut them down the middle so you have two separate chicken breasts, and place both halves into the other (empty and clean) side of the sink. Repeat this until all chicken is cut.
- Get out your freezer-safe containers (I always use plastic bags for meats, and used quart-sized bags for this chicken).
- Each chicken breast weighs one pound (yes, I weighed them for you!), so place one chicken breast into one bag and set aside. Repeat with the remaining pieces of chicken.
- Fold each bag in half to remove as much air as possible and seal. Repeat with the remaining bags of chicken.
- Freeze. I have a deep freezer, so in order to keep the chicken organized, I laid each bag of chicken into the box that it came in. I made a single layer first, and then a second layer on top. Then I placed the entire box into my deep freeze.
Eating the Chicken
This is my only issue with Zaycon, and there’s a good chance it was just a fluke. But, the chicken we ordered didn’t taste good. It was very, very tough and chewy. So chewy in fact that my husband pretty much put his food down and wouldn’t eat it (and this is huge, because he NEVER does this).
I tried all sorts of different cooking methods to see if it would help, including diced, shredded, baking, frying chicken nuggets, grilled, marinated (short and long). The only method that SEEMED to help, was pounding out the meet thinly (to just less than ½”) AND marinating overnight in an acidic mixture (I used homemade buttermilk).
Just to make sure we weren’t crazy, I planned back-to-back chicken dinners. I used Zaycon’s chicken one night, and organic chicken from the grocery store the next night. I didn’t say ONE WORD to anyone in the family, yet both my husband and I noticed the difference in texture almost immediately.
I contacted Zaycon about this, because surely the recommendations from my friends and you guys couldn’t all be wrong, right? Maybe this was just a new-to-Zaycon farm or a bad batch of chicken?
Zaycon customer service was extremely helpful, and after I answered their questions, they credited my account 100% of my purchase price.
Will I Buy From Zaycon Again?
Absolutely yes! As I mentioned earlier, the pick-up process was a blessing to this busy mama, and I certainly don’t mind processing the meat for an hour when I get home.
I took my credit and splurged on Wild Argentine Red Shrimp and Kansas City Strip Steaks. If all goes well, I’ll come back and update this post with my experience on those orders too!
What You Should Know Before You Buy
Zaycon offers sales!
Just recently Zaycon Fresh Foods had a coupon code for 22% off bacon, 22% off 80/20 ground beef and 22% of shrimp. When you combine their coupons with their already competitive prices, you really can save a ton over shopping at the grocery store.
To be notified of sales, subscribe to their newsletter or follow them on social media. I don’t want to miss a sale, so I subscribed to their email. My only gripe is that they email daily, but they include the item in the subject line so I can only open the ones that apply to me.
Placing orders requires planning ahead of time.
Sometimes you can place an order just one month out, but most often, you’re looking at 2-3 months away before picking up your meat. This means planning ahead for the budget, for your time to pick-up, for the time to process, for storing the meat, and even for the event you need the meat for (i.e. to order prime rib for Christmas, I’d have to order now and pick up the first week of November).
This isn’t hard to do when you know what to expect, but it’s not the instant gratification experience you’re used to getting at the grocery store.
They do sell out of items.
You can place orders for items up to the day before the scheduled pick-up, BUT they often run out. This is especially true of items that are already on a limited basis as it is (i.e. specialty cuts of meat, seafood, etc.). If you are interested in an item, get your planning figured out ASAP and head over to Zaycon Foods so you don’t miss out on the great deal.
Update as of June 25, 2018:
Last week, Zaycon suddenly shut down without alerting customers or blogging affiliates (like me). No emails were sent out and their website is not providing any information.
As an affiliate with Zaycon, I am often given information ahead of time, but received no word about this shut down. All of my personal links to access my Zaycon account are giving me an error message which means I will not receive payment for referrals either.
It is unknown at this point whether Zaycon will file bankruptcy and reopen business at a later date. This makes me so sad because they seemed to be doing so well with their business and I was ready to order some more shrimp and steak!
While the prices that Zaycon offered were so amazing, it may be what lead to their undoing. Sadly, even their truck drivers were unaware that they were losing their jobs until the day of. Some finished out their deliveries for the week (without pay) to ensure customers received their orders.
What now?
Current customers are encouraged to contact their credit card, Paypal, or bank to dispute the charges for any outstanding orders. Unfortunately this isn’t a guarantee to get your money back, but it is worth trying.
I haven’t found any online source for meat to be as well priced as Zaycon, but I do have some recommendations:
- Butcher Box (Not for everyone, but very high quality. Read my review here.)
- Tropical Traditions (I use them for coconut oil, but they also offer organic grass-fed beef and pastured pork and chicken.)
- Azure Standard (I have not used them before but they come highly recommended by blogging friends.)
- Big box stores like Costco and Sam’s are offering more higher quality meat for good prices than before. I’ve also found grass-fed ground beef at ALDI for a great price. (See the Costco vs. Aldi comparison here.)
- Local farms will most likely have the best quality for the best price in your area. Go here for help finding a local farm in your area. If you can’t fit a whole side of beef in your freezer, consider going in with some friends and splitting it up.
Do you like getting free meat? We have an exclusive offer for Crumbs readers!
Right now get 2 lbs of ground beef + bacon + $10 off your first order with Butcher Box!
Butcher Box delivers grass-fed beef, pasture-raised and organic chicken, and heritage pork directly to your front door each month. You can read my honest review on Butcher Box here, and also my updated Butcher Box review here.
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I have ordered chicken from them twice with the same results as you , the meat was tough and had a strange texture . My husband is not picky either but was very glad when it was all gone. I will most likely not order again.
I’m sorry you had a poor experience too JB! Will you not order chicken? Or not order anything at all? I definitely want to give it another shot, but with something else. I’ve heard too many good things from so many people to think that the whole system is broken!
We’ve ordered from Zaycon for about a year. A few months back, a friend gave us a few pieces of the chicken tenderloins to try [they were fresh] and they were delicious. So we ordered some for ourselves in July, and just picked them up yesterday [October 6, 2017]. This order came in frozen, 10 three-pound bags. Each bag was marked “Pilgrim Chicken Breast Tenderloins”. The bag has a red rooster at the top. I thought this was odd, as it certainly didn’t appear to be “farm fresh”. Suspicious, I did a google search and guess what? Same exact chicken, same company, same bag, same product – SOLD AT WALMART. And Sam’s Club. And Hy-vee. And Spartan. And BTW, at lower prices than Zaycon’s “sale”. I’ve emailed Zaycon, and will be highly surprised if I hear back or get a refund. I don’t want a credit, because I’m done driving 40+ miles, on a specific day, within a 30-minute time frame, to buy the exact same chicken in whatever quantity I want every day of the week at WalMart. Again, false advertising at best. They obviously ran out of chicken, and substituted this.
Oh goodness, what an awful experience! I honestly don’t blame you for not wanting to order from them again. The only reason I am, is so that I can confidently rule in or rule out their brand as a whole (since there is a good chance my poor experience with their chicken was a one-off thing). I sincerely hope you can get your money back!
Just received an email from Zaycon’s “Customer Service”. They are asking me to locate a 501c3 Charity, take the chicken to the charity location and then they will decide what type of refund I would qualify for.
I’m sorry – this is NOT customer service. They never stated on the chicken tenderloin web site [which has not disappeared from their sales page] that the chicken would be “Pilgrim Chicken Tenderloins”. If they had, I would have researched this earlier, and honestly, bought it at WalMart. If they want to sell food items they purchase at WalMart, or food items from the same supplier that supplies WalMart, that’s fine. But I’m not going to pay top dollar for it, have them hold my payment 90 days, drive several miles to pick it up within a 30-minute time frame, when I can simply to go WalMart, Sam’s Club, Hy-Vee, Spartan, etc., and purchase as many packs as I want in about an hour.
BTW, MOST charities will NOT acceptable perishable goods from private donors. They have no way of knowing how the food has been stored or kept and cannot feed it to anyone. This is why most charities will only take canned food that is NOT expired.
I don’t need the circus runaround – life is hectic enough. No more Zaycon from me – lesson learned.
SKennedy – I just emailed Zaycon. I honestly don’t know what will come of it, but this level of customer service doesn’t sit well with me. I hope they can get this resolved for you ASAP!
Just heard today that they are suspending operations. Guess they weren’t as good as everyone thought they were to begin with…
We have been ordering from Zaycon for several years and have NEVER gotten anything that wasn’t top quality. I have no idea why some folks claim to have had bed experiences, particularly the chicken breasts, but guess it can happen. We, however have been quite fortunate and satisfied..
We are sorry to see them go but hope we can get a refund on two orders that are pending.
I had this experience with chicken breasts every time as well. Now I am thinking about ordering ground turkey. I ordered it in the past and it had strange flavoring (I think they added Rosemary, but they say they don’t do that anymore.). I’m afraid to order it again but the price is so good. Does anybody have experience with ground turkey through zaycon?
I would be carefully about ordering the ground turkey. I did and almost every pkg had quite a few bone chips in it. A lot more then I usually get when I buy ground turkey in the store. I have ordered the chicken and I am pleased with it and now I ordered the pork tenderloins. But I am staying away from the ground turkey.
I ordered their ground turkey last Spring and ended up throwing away about 20 pounds. Like the other person said, mine had bone chips in it (or something else hard and not edible in every package). I also thought it tasted funny but it may have just been the fresh turkey taste and I was used to what is sold in the grocery store. I’ve been very happy with their lean ground beef though. I’ll continue ordering the beef.
I have ordered 80/20 beef, boneless breasts and tenders. Nothing was that great except price and the pick up ease. Huge chicken breasts, actually took some time to process, no biggie. But as most say, the quality was not good. Beef was ok, not as flavorful as my local grocer. Tenders is where my worst experience was. Very tough, chewy. No matter how i cooked them, it didnt help. I was refunded 100% which is great, zaycon has customer service perfect. Ended up giving most of the tenders away to family. I really want to like them but at the end of the day, if the food dont taste good or is tough, i would rather spend a little more. If zaycon could fix these quality issues i would be an exclusive purchaser!
Same here rubber meat
This is a very interesting concept – I’ve never heard of it! Were you able to find out any information about the farm(s) you were getting the meat from when you’ve ordered? By just checking out what is in my area – pick ups are places like churches and what not – I’d be curious to know where the meat actually comes from.
Hi Joanna! I wasn’t able to find out specific information about the farm, but I also didn’t specifically ask for it. They respond to emails, so I’d definitely send them one if you’re curious about where your meat would come from locally!!
I love Zaycon. I’ve only ever ordered chicken but it has been great each time – never chewy.
I go one step further than you and I take half of the chicken and cube it before freezing and pound flat another quarter before freezing.
Cuts down on later prep time (and mess)
I’m glad your quality chicken has been great Jennifer – I’m hoping mine was just a dud batch! I like the idea of more prepping before freezing, but we had just gotten back from vacation and I hadn’t had a chance to come up with a plan for everything. 🙂
I have been a Zaycon customer now for almost six years, maybe more, and our chicken has ALWAYS tasted exceptional compared to chicken found in the stores. I think maybe it was a fluke but Zaycon’s customer service is the BEST! I am anxious to hear about the shrimp! We have bought chicken breast, chicken thighs, chicken tenders, and also recently bought the 1 pound packaged ground turkey! WE are clearly fans! I loved your write up!
Glad your items were great; please see my posts. You can buy those chicken tenderloins that I picked up yesterday at WalMart! And as far as customer service, it doesn’t appear that you’ve had a complaint about the items you’ve purchased, but if you ever do, you’re in for a rude awakening!!!
You had a bad batch of meat and you would still recommend them? Are you getting some sort of kick-back or commission from them? I don’t understand. You are out the money you already spent for meat you won’t eat because they gave you a credit instead of a refund. That hardly seems cost-effective especially for non-organic meat.
Hi Sam – I do earn a commission if you make a purchase through my link, but that’s not why I shared Zaycon. First, my review is entirely honest. Their system of cutting out the middle man and letting “ordinary folk” buy in bulk is perfect for families looking to save money on real food. If I were in it to make a quick buck, I certainly would have left out the part about the chicken being chewy.
Second, I’m not out the money I spent. They gave it back to me in store credit (and I kept the chicken, which we are still eating), and then I re-invested that money, AND MORE, back into Zaycon. Why? Because I’ve heard SO MANY PEOPLE, including personal friends, recommend them over and over again. I’m clinging to the hope that my first experience truly was a fluke, and that my second and third experiences (since I ordered two different items) will win me over again. Perhaps they would have issued me a refund if I had pushed back, but I’m okay with a credit for now because it lets me further test their other products.
Third, I feel like it’s my responsibility to not sit quiet on the sidelines if something that’s popular doesn’t turn out to be that great after all. I mean, wouldn’t you rather me say, “Hey Sam, you’ve probably heard great things about such-and-such company but here’s what really happens…” instead of me saying nothing at all, letting you spend and waste your hard-earned money on something that’s not worth it? I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that. If I try something and it’s not good, I feel obligated to let my readers know.
I ordered the chicken breasts about two years ago. We’re not huge chicken eaters – poultry smells like wet dog to me! – so it was tough to use them all up in a reasonable period of time. Since then, I haven’t seen even chicken breasts available in my area through Zaycon. Too bad, because I would definitely try some of the other items that I think we would use more regularly.
Thanks for sharing Amy! Have you seen anything else from Zaycon available in your area recently?
I ordered the chicken a couple of years ago and couldn’t believe how tough and chewy it was. The only way we would use it was in a crockpot and even then it wasn’t great. I’ve always wondered why everyone raves about it. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion.
You’re most welcome Kelly. I’m really hoping that our experiences aren’t the norm. Have you ordered anything else from Zaycon?
BTW, even though I had this issue with the chicken tenders and will NOT be ordering from Zaycon again, in the past year we have ordered bacon, Argentine shrimp, and 93/7 ground beef – all of it was outstanding. This was the first issue we’ve had with Zaycon [the chicken tenders] and honestly, it stems from misrepresentation of selling “farm fresh” items, when in fact, this is a commercial product sold many places, including WalMart. I expected more from Zaycon, and am more than happy to pay more for grass fed animals, etc.
Thank you for contacting Zaycon; not sure it will do anything, but I do appreciate your concern and follow-up, which is not your responsibility! Thank you again.
Just an FYI, Pilgrim is a brand of chicken that outsources their farming to local farmers all over the US. My chicken breasts from Zaycon came from Wayne’s Farm, which is similar although they do not (to my knowledge) sell directly to grocery stores with their own branding like Pilgrim’s does. They probably sell to stores for them to resell as their store brand. Anyway, I am also not happy with the quality of chicken that I received (it was laden with the striping defect, and very fatty; both of which occur when chickens are given growth hormone) but I did notice that my chicken came from a local Wayne’s Farm (local’ish, I should say… as it was in Georgia, not Alabama where I live). Either way, I bet if you researched, you would find several local farmers who are contracted through Pilgrim’s. There is one near my home. There is also several other brands of chicken being farmed near me, such as Wayne’s, Goldkist, and Sweet Sue. Was there a location printed on your bags? I understand your frustration though, especially if the prices of what you paid through Zaycon was the same as what you could buy at Walmart.
Yes – on the bag it states “Pilgrim’s Pride – distributed from Greeley, Colorado”. I contacted Wayne Farms – which is the facility Zaycon claims on their own web site to get all of their chicken from – and they do NOT have a facility in Colorado. Most of their facilities are in Alabama and the southern tier states.
As far as price, I can purchase this chicken at Sam’s Club or Walmart for less than I paid with Zaycon. But the bottom line is, Zaycon presented something they did not deliver – farm fresh, wholesome chicken tenders, a cut above what you can purchase at a local grocery store. To be blunt, in my case, this is just false advertising. By the way, I live in Michigan, and this chicken was picked up in Ohio. Thanks for writing.
SKennedy – here’s the response I got back from Zaycon. I hope it helps!!
Per our refund policy, https://www.zayconfresh.com/refund-policy
Order Cancellation
– If you choose to cancel your order within two weeks of your pickup date or if you miss your pickup, a 10% processing fee will be applied to your order (Unless it is Zaycon’s fault or there is inclement weather).
– The processing/restocking fee is waived for refunds applied to your Zaycon Fresh credit account.
– If you miss your pickup, please call us immediately to discuss your options. Refunds are not automatic.
– You have up to 6 months after a missed pickup to claim a credit card refund.
– After 6 months of missing a pickup, you may claim (non-transferable) Zaycon Fresh account credit.
We can also offer you an option for a refund by donating your order to any 501(C) charity in the name of Zaycon Fresh. The charities in this classification include food banks and homeless shelters. The receipt must have the donating party listed as Zaycon Fresh, product name and weight of product donated. Please email the receipt to [email protected] Please include how you would like the refund, Zaycon Fresh account credit or a refund to your original form of payment. Once we receive the email with the receipt, we will refund you within 2 business days. You can also find this information by clicking on our FAQ page at the bottom of our Homepage of http://www.zayconfresh.com.. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.
Yes, since mine was not a “missed pick up order” the first part of this doesn’t apply to my situation. Zaycon sent me the last paragraph there regarding locating a 501c charity, etc.
Since this company did not accurately portray what they were selling, there is no way I would trust them to refund the money after all these additional steps were followed. At that point, the chicken is donated, the charitable donation slip is made out as “Zaycon” being the donor – so if they refuse to refund, I’m left out in the cold with nothing [no chicken; no donation slip for tax purposes]. It’s beyond logic to me why I would list Zaycon as the one “donating” the chicken, since I PAID FOR THIS CHICKEN ORDER BACK IN JULY.
Again, this is poor. It’s not as though I’m saying I changed my mind, or don’t like the chicken – it’s that Zaycon’s advertisements clearly state they are “farm fresh”, “free ranging”, and “grass fed”, putting them “a step above anything at your local grocery store.” Well, no they are not – not when you can clearly purchase , for example, this chicken I purchased from Zaycon at WalMart [same exact brand name; same chicken; same bag].
This delivery date was originally scheduled for 09/20/17, but one day prior, Zaycon cancelled the delivery date and moved it to 10/06/17. I should have cancelled right then and there. Obviously, they were running short on the product and this is what I got. It’s just false advertising – plain and simple.
Finally, all caught up with them. Ceased operating with no notice at all on June 25, 2018 due to a legal case for financial fraud of investors in 2016.
I love Zaycon, and have used them for years. Their chicken breasts have always been good. Because they are so big,
and thick, I always leave the breast in the freezer bag, and pound it with my rolling pin, so it’s flatter, and has a better chance of cooking all the same. One breast is enough to feed my husband and myself because they are so big. They have several good sells thru the year, where you can get the price even lower.
Love their 93/7 hamburger, especially now that they are packaging it in 1lb portions…….makes it so easy to just put in the freezer without having to divide and bag up. Such a big savings from what you buy 93/7 in the local stored.
Love their bacon. Such good smoky flavor, and thick cut. We’ll cook up the 3lb portion in one day in the oven, so my house only smells like bacon for that 1 day. get lots of meals from the bacon or add it in other dishes
Just tried the center cut pork chops. Oh my goodness they were so tender. Will for sure order again.
I group order with a few of my friends. They don’t have the freezer space, or just don’t want that much product, so we will split cases, and all still save money. I’ll split cases with my children. Bacon is a regular Christmas gift, and my grown children look forward to that gift. lol
Thank you for your research.
Thanks for sharing your experience Jan! And can I just say, what a great mom to give BACON at Christmas?! How cool is that!!
I have ordered chicken several times through Zaycon. The last order was for 2 40# boxes of bnls, sknls breast meat. One box I divided putting about 3# per freezer bag. The other box I split with my mother (she loved it and wants more). My half I canned in quart jars. I am definitely ordering again. The frozen breast have excellent flavor and texture. I usually slice them lengthwise to make cutlets. We are a family of 8 so that works well. The canned chicken is convenient and delicious. I have also ordered ground turkey. It is packaged in 1# packs for easy thawing.
Hi Edith,
I have never canned meat. Do you cook it first and cool and cube it?
Are you essentially making your own canned chicken to use for chicken salad etc… instead of buying them?
Thx for sharing!
Making my own canned chicken is exactly what it is. After 6 days with no power (Hurricane Irma) I was thrilled to have canned chicken. I use it in casseroles as well as chicken salad. I had canned pork before, but this was a first for chicken. I used this as a guideline – http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2013/03/pressure-chicken. I hope that helps.
We also can our chicken and love it!
Thank you for your honest review. I”ve been curious about Zaycon too. You said that their chicken was cage free, but I was wondering if the chickens are actually free roaming on ample grass space. Cage free can mean they are in a hen house without cages, but their living conditions can still be over crowded. And they don’t necessarily have access to adequate outdoor space (if any outdoor time at all).
Another reader mentioned the size of the breasts as being very large. From my understanding, chicken breasts shouldn’t be overly large. I don’t know what they do to allow for larger breast meat, but I doubt it is good for the chilckens. And it could be why your breasts were chewy and tough. I found this article http://firstwefeast.com/eat/2014/10/how-did-modern-chickens-get-so-damn-big
About the tough chicken, this article from CBS was interesting: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woody-breast-could-bite-the-chicken-business/
I really appreciate all you do for your blog readers. Would love to see an update if you try them again.
I ra
That is exactly how my husband described the chicken from Sprouts!
Reeeeeallly…. Interesting!
We’ve always loved the chicken breast, breaded tenders, bacon, ground beef, pulled pork, ham and shrimp!!
Thanks for sharing Carrie! I’m hoping we like the beef and shrimp too. 🙂
I am strongly considering the ground beef, but am not sure of the 80/20 or the 93/7. Does the 80/20 it have too much fat to drain off? Is there enough flavor in the 93/7 version? I thought about getting 1 box of both and combining them. We have a large family and it would definitely take 2 pounds per meal. I would love to hear your experience before I order. Thank you for your time and input.
Hi Edith! I’m hoping Carrie can chime on her personal experience, but as for the 80/20 vs. 93/7, it depends on how you’ll use the meat. For burgers/meatballs/meatloaf, you want the fat. For casseroles/tacos/enchiladas, lean works well. 🙂
I’m sure i bought the cheaper option but did have to drain some grease off! All of their meat had always been great for me though! 😉
Thanks for the information. I just ordered the sausage links. I hope they are as good as the chicken. I will order beef as soon as a coupon code comes out.
Finally a blogger that’s honest about the chicken (or they didn’t have a bad expierence). I bought chicken from them twice in the past &the first time not to bad but the second was awful! I did call but literally got no where so will most likely never get from them again. Thankfully I was planning on canning most of it & ended up just canning it all after we realized how chewy it was. I was then able to use it w/out it being too bad. We have beef & pork because of being farmers but have never did chickens mostly because there is no place in our area to process them. We also found alot of waste on that second batch so even if it was cheap still not worth all that was throwed away. We have decided we would rather pay a little more & get better meat.
That’s a bummer your second batch was awful Karen, but I am glad you found a way to use it so it wasn’t a complete waste.
When we were ordering from Zaycon, my husband and I would set aside an evening and prepare the chicken into different cuts, i.e. full breasts, tenders, chopped. It was so convenient to pull the packages out of freezer and meat was ready. We were never too pleased with the chicken we purchased. I’m not sure if we will ever try them again.
That’s neat that you and your husband did this together! I agree that it’s very convenient. Would you be willing to try different meat, other than chicken from Zaycon?
I have been ordering from Zaycon for years. I have always been happy with my purchase. I’ve ordered chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, chicken thighs and chuck roasts. Have a freezer full right now.
Thanks for sharing your experience Linda!
This is a great, extensive post. My husband works for Zaycon and we’ve ordered from them for years. They’re a good company!
Thanks Callie! I’m happy to support a good company with quality products!
I appreciate your honest review, Tiffany, and am surprised at the differing reviews from readers. We have a somewhat local butcher shop that we have always had great results from. It’s about a half hour drive, but I would also have to drive that far for a Zaycon drop off.So while I wait for your review of their other products, I will stay local.
You’re very welcome Gramyprepper, and I think you’re making a wise choice. 🙂
I have never ordered from zaycon but from reading the about the though meat I wonder if the chickens are raised differenly. I have had many home grown chicken and it’s never remotely close to store bought, it’s tougher and takes longer to cook also the more older the chicken the harder the meat. Perhaps people are more acostomed to the texture, flavour and fast cooking store chicken.
Interesting… just to clarify – your own chickens are indeed tougher, and store-bought would be more tender? If so, that would align with their philosophy of raising meat…
My yard raised birds are always a bit tough and chewy compared to store bought conventional birds.
Ok… wow… so maybe the toughness is because I’m used to conventional and this is how farm-raised birds are? They do say that grass-fed beef is general tougher too…
We also raised our own chicken (Cornish X’s same breed as the chicken in the grocery store) and the only time the meat has ever been tough was when the birds were heat stressed at the time of processing. Typically the meat is super tender compared to grocery store chicken. We put the chicks out on pasture in chicken tractors once feathered and then move them daily to fresh grass.
Such a thorough post and such interesting remarks in the comments.
So my experience with the chicken has been mixed. The first time it was great. The next two times I had a bit if tough meat (not much.) This last time I had more chewy meat… I was the one who noticed it most.
I’ve been interested in the reasons given for why some of the meat may be tough and it makes sense to me that bigger breasts, field grown would be tougher than conventionally (for this day and age) raised chicken… Perhaps we better understand why meat tenderizing techniques we’re developed 😉
I may only use their chicken for boiled, shredded meat in the future (although roasting in the oven and thinly slicing against the grain produced great luncheon meat.)
To be clear, my batches have never been all tough, and I think I can tell, when handling the raw meat, which will be tough (they’re very very firm.)
I love their bacon and I’m jealous about your order of shrimp… My friend says it’s delicious! Looking forward to more reports on their meat.
Thanks for leaving your thoughts here Jenette! I know it’s helpful to others to hear different view points. Your note on the meat tenderizing is definitely worth considering!
I really appreciate your review. I really was hoping you’d comment on the chicken taste/texture and you did! My first order was the 40 lbs of ground turkey. I really didn’t care for the taste of it at all. I don’t know how exactly to explain it, a little gamey maybe? I am used to Jennie O or Costco Organic ground turkey. I didn’t really see any bad/indifferent reviews on the ground turkey until after I ate the turkey several times and of course after searching for the reviews. LOL. I saw those reviews on Yelp for the turkey and they also mentioned the same “chewy and/or tough” chicken breasts. Now I have an order for the breasts because I placed to at the same time as the turkey so I think I will cancel and try something else instead. I’m sure I’m accustomed to the store bought tender chicken breast, unfortunately. Thanks again for the honest review!
You’re very welcome Mia! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the turkey! 🙂
I used to order from Zaycon, but after 3 batches of tough chicken and then the pink slime incident, I haven’t ordered in years.
And, their “fresh, never frozen” chicken *always* came partially frozen.
I don’t know anyone locally who orders from them anymore; we’ve all had the same experience of touch chicken.
Also, be aware that their Kansas City strip steaks have 15% solution added, and their shrimp has added preservatives, as do other offerings.
I ordered from Zaycon earlier this year and the size of the chicken breasts were much larger than I anticipated. One pound per lobe! Sometimes larger. Also the breasts were very fatty and full of the striping defect which causes that chewy, “woody” texture. I suggest having a look at what causes striping. I let the company know I was dissatisfied but didn’t get a refund or credit. We ate as much as we could, but went ahead and tossed the rest out. Such a shame too, because the concept is great and there are no real competitors. If they ever offer bulk boneless skinless that is raised more naturally and therefore a more reasonable size, I may consider them again.
Just curious is the 40lbs of chicken would even fit in a regular freezer (side by side fridge)? I’d probably have to get rid of wverything else.
It might Erin! I have a side-by-side, and if each breast was individually wrapped, you could Tetris your way into getting them to fit. 🙂
Hi, I just purchased my first ever freezer!! (happy birthday to me!) it is a 20 sq foot upright. I am excited to order from Zaycon to fill it up. I was wondering if anyone has ordered steaks or pork that is individually wrapped? I would like to know if you could write the date on them with a sharpie? Does anyone have any tips for rotation or storage? I appreciate the comments and info on this blog. I am now jealous because there are things I didn’t know about.
Hi all! I’ve purchased Zaycon’s Chicken Breast and Wild Salmon and we have our first chicken thigh order pickup next month! I am sooo happy the thighs will be arriving pre-portioned and processed! Okay folks…. yes Zaycon breast are an amazingly great value and if you catch the 22% off coupon…. forgetaboutit!! Here we go…. lets be honest…. the size and thickness of some of the chicken breast is… dare I say…. questionable. I know they are not organic but… ummm… there might be a little summn summn going on here… possibly gmo feed…or/and…lil-bit-a hormones… I have no idea. But we did decided to toss a breast or two out if they were tough to cut or had a bit of a chemical residue odor, or just didnt look quite “right”. But I am okay with that… I am the “processor” just like the meat department employees in the store! Zaycon customer service is accommodating and have given me credits in the past. All in all it takes two of us a couple hours to break down 2 boxes of chicken, and they do so well in the crockpot! If you usually buy standard chicken breast at the store these are right on par. Grab a family member or neighbor and split a box if you don’t have the freezer capacity. Its the best deal and the best quality for the money. No question.
I’ve ordered from them for a few years now. I’ve purchased the 93% lean ground beef, the boneless chicken thighs and ribeye steaks. I’ve only had one bad experience and that was the ground beef packaged in two pound servings. It was incredibly dry. I’ve since purchased it again in the ten pound tubes, which was my first purchase with Zaycon, and I’m back to being happy with the beef. I can’t say enough about my satisfaction with the ribeyes. Price wise they’re comparable to the grocery store, unless Zaycon has a special, but the flavor beats my local grocery stores. I guess my biggest complaint is the time between ordering and delivery. I’ve had to learn to order a large enough quantity to get me to the next delivery. But overall I’ve been very pleased with their products.
I have been going back and forth on trying Zaycon. May I ask, where are you located? Another review I read on the company was from Florida, that chicken was incredibly fatty and some of the breast had a green slim on them! That review was over a year ago just to be clear.
Hi Beth! I’m in Atlanta. 🙂
I have ordered boneless chicken breasts on several occasions in the past few years, most orders were very large lobed breasts. And to assure the meat was tender I generally cooked it for several hours in slow cooker!! One party has shared with me may be this meat is from layer chickens that are in later years of life and are fed, fattened and then butchered and sold, just an opinion, anyone else maybe think this.
I had gotten chicken breast with rib meat from a local store recently and cooked it and was sooo tender!!
I too just picked up the 30# chicken tenderloin order and noticed it says Pilgrim’s farms on it, hhhmmm, kind of disappointing to learn that these may be available in our local supermarkets.
I am located in the upper Midwest, South Dakota!!
Hi there. I used to love Zaycon. Used to. I have spent considerable money with them. However, I have just spent a lot of time voicing how displeased I am with their changes. They no longer guarantee their food hormone and antibiotic-free. They also are using iqf chicken now. I can go by 12% injected frozen chicken from Walmart if I wanted that. They say they follow FDA standards. Duh. That’s ridiculous. Everyone, everyone (!), has to uphold the FDA standards. Aside from wild caught shrimp and wild salmon I’m no longer ordering any kind of meat through them. I would rather pay a little more and get less then feed my family hormones, antibiotics and injected solutions… also, when I was on the phone today, the lady had the gall to tell me that no meats were allowed to have hormones that could be fed to people. They have no idea what they’re talking about. All one has to do is look up any website, or do a Google search, and it lists all the hormones the FDA approves.
I just purchased Salmon from them. After being told it would not be delivered when they said it would (it was delivered a month later) and making a phone call to their customer service to basically be told “We don’t care if you order from us or not. We aren’t going to do half deliveries because their wasn’t enough orders for your month”. Then when the product did come in it looked nothing like their pictures. It is a piece of skin with about 1/2″ at the thickest part and maybe a 1/4″ in the thin part. It looks like someone had sliced the top off the skin leaving a little meat and sold it as wild-caught fresh meat. When I called to complain I am told I have to jump thru hoops by donating the meat in the name of Zaycon and then they will decide if they will refund my money. This is not standing by your guarantee at all. I have notice a huge change in the quality of their meats. One time I received the same bags that Walmart sells for the chicken wings. I will no longer do business with this company.
I ordered from them when I lived in AZ and loved the fast pick up and I thought the product was great! I am now in CA and ordered to find the pick up window is a half hour. When I got to the site at 3 minutes after, the driver had left. I called and they would only offer the standard refund. I cant express how incredibly disappointed I am. I will never order from them again. The driver left prior to his time and that isn’t and now I am out the 10%.
I just finished processing our 40 lbs of chicken. It only took about an hour (I’m supper picky about the process) and my mom made some fresh nuggets while I was processing…they were delicious! The pick up process was amazing and I can’t wait to try the ground beef 93/7!
Thanks for sharing your experience Stacie!
I have had the same experience with the chicken as well. The first time I purchased it was good. Not great, but good. The second time it was tough and tasteless. Even the color was off. I notified Zaycon right away and they credited my account. Not for the entire order but this was ok. with me. I have not ordered chicken from them since. Then I order the steak – horrible. Like shoe leather and used it for stew beef!. The hamburger in one pound packages is watery but the 10lb rolls is not so I am waiting for that to come out again as they do have good hamburger meat. I also love their ham. Everyone raves about it. So, I am now down to purchasing just hamburger in the 10lb packs and ham.
I just spent a good part of the day canning a 40# box of chicken. I can’t wait to try it. Hoping and praying it is good!!!!
Wishing you good luck!
I was just surfing around for recent reviews since our freezer is empty and I need to fill it again. It’s been a few years since Ive ordered. I’m not a fan of the chicken, personally…too much work for me. But, we finally used our last chub of lean ground beef. It was great as usual. I’ll be ordering lean beef and the breakfast sausages for sure. We’ve had great luck with them.
I got my first Zaycon chicken order today, it was tough and chewy. I got it pretty inexpensively, 1.39 a pound, I guess tomorrow, I will be marinating and pounding!
All the rest of the chicken was delicious! Just had a few off pieces?
Thank you for the follow up comment!!!
I always end up slicing the breasts in half (crosswise) because they are so large. Maybe that helps with the texture? I’ve been ordering from Zaycon for several years and have only rarely had an off-bite. I like that the chicken doesn’t have an off-smell like it sometimes does from the grocery store.
Their shrimp is some of the best I’ve had. Those are now a regular purchase too. We also recently tried the pork tenderloin and enjoyed it.
The only thing I’ve tried that I wasn’t a huge fan of is their chicken thighs. The first time I ordered them, they arrived just like the breasts (in the larger bag, fresh and ready to be trimmed/processed). They were delicious! The second time, they were the frozen and like what I could have purchased at the store. After I went back and read the listing of my second purchase, I realized that it was different than the first. I should have checked more closely. There’s nothing wrong with them… I just prefer my chicken not be frozen so that I can divide it up and freeze it in portions as I decide.
Overall though, I’ve been very pleased with the experience. It’s nice to have a fully stocked freezer and take advantage of their sales!
From the sound of it, ordering from them is like gambling. You don’t know what you’re going to get, but you can guarantee you’ll be out at least a hundred bucks. I loathe companies that gain a customer base and then pull the old switcheroo.
The chicken breasts I have ordered are huge. They are joined together and by the time you consider the size of the bird that these came from they have to be the size of turkeys. How do they get the chickens so big. Do they use steroids or some kind of growth hormones.?
In my research, the breed of bird determines the size of the chicken breasts.
I have been ordering meat from Zaycon for about the last few months. So far I have tried the chicken breasts and the ground turkey. I loved the chicken. The turkey though, was kind of greasy and mushy textured. I think it was probably too finely ground. I won’t be buying the turkey again.
I loved the ground turkey. I have a problem with meat sticking between one space between my teeth, and this was soft, so I guess it might be kind of mushy to other people, but I really like the flavor. The first pound package that I opened went into chicken broth to make soup. The second package was used to make low carb turkey meat balls. I added garlic, onion, and capers, ground up in a food processor, I then cooked it in an air fryer (the Chef’s Essential 5.3 qt from QVC, which I recommend highly for cooking meats). I loved it so much that I can’t wait to make them again. We also bought the pork tenderloins and the chicken thighs. I have cooked both in the air fryer with outstanding results. I added some seafood seasoning like Old Bay, but not the OB brand. The pork turned out tender and juicy. The chicken thighs were a bit on the fatty side, but I did not mind since the Keto diet encourages eating fats. We are picking up the chicken breasts in a couple of weeks. I hope they are good, but if they are tough I might try canning them, grinding them up, or cooking them in chicken bouillon. I have been told that the bacon is wonderful, so that is next on my list. My husband wants me to buy the cod fillets, but right now our 20 ft freezer is kind of full.
Thanks for your post. It has been very educational to read about other people’s experiences. I would not have ordered the chicken breast if I had read this first. The price was very low, about $1.20 a pound because of the 25 percent first time discount.
I have ordered the chicken breast, 93/7 hamburger and the ground turkey. The only one that I was not happy with was the turkey. It was ground too fine and had too much liquid in it. The texture is like pate or mousse. No way to make turkey burgers out of it. It is OK if you cook it down like you would hamburger and add lots of spices. Most of mine gets made into taco meat. When I first set up an account with Zaycon, they sent me emails almost daily with great deals and flash sales. That is why I decided to order because of the good deals. I have not received any more emails since I got my last order. Their flash sales beat the grocery store prices but I can normally get the same prices or occasionally better prices than their regular prices at the local grocery store.
I still get emails after I’ve ordered Connie, so maybe you should try signing up again (only if you’re interested in their deals of course). Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
I bought chicken breasts, pork chops, Argentine shrimp, and lastly the ribeye steaks. All were great except ribeye steaks. These were select grade from a Midwest meat packer and I have eaten round steak that was more tender than these rib eyes. They are obviously a lower grade of meat and certainly not local. I wrote the company about the grade and received no answer. So I wrote them again and received no answer. My guess is that the oversold and then shipped whatever they could get their hands on. I will not be buying steaks from them again.
Scott – we had great luck with the Kansas strip steaks. Maybe it’s just the ribeyes? With all these comments and emails, I think that the quality is very subjective to where you live AND what you buy. Your best bet is to try it, and not buy that item again if you don’t like it!
I just tried out ground beef from them for the first time. I ordered one case of 80/20 ground beef and one case 93/7. The 80/20 is the worst I’ve ever had. Every bite has gristle in it
With the allure of terms like “fresh, cage free, grass fed, etc.”, I was really excited to purchase from a new meat supplier. Now, I’m nervous for my order with them. I have received e-mail notifications for both of my orders stating that unforseen customs problems with the shrimp were causing a delay and backing up their scheduled delivery (a full month). This, I can understand. What I don’t understand is how chicken breasts on a completely different order/date have been held up by the shrimp customs issues as well…
I can’t commit to the new time/date as it conflicts with previous engagements and I don’t know if I should just cancel at this point. In addition to the scheduling error, they were showing -close to sell out- for certain items that are now for sale again.
~Confused new customer~
My shrimp order was delayed too, as was my steak order in November. Things happen I guess, and I get it. My best guess is that the chicken itself is fine, but that scheduling and personnel on their end (for packaging, delivery, etc.) can’t do both dates… I know for my pickup, it was for people who ordered sausage, chicken and shrimp. Even though only the shrimp were delayed, the entire pick-up date was rescheduled. It makes sense from their end, but I can see how it would be inconvenient for the customer too. I just kind of take it all with a grain of salt. If the quality is there, I can be flexible. 🙂
Do they get the Alaska fish from a company or a fisherman?
Their salmon is wild-caught, but I don’t know if that means it comes from Alaska or a local fisherman.
I saw that it was wild caught but there’s a huge difference in quality depending on where it comes from. The price they offer it at leads me to believe it is #2 grade or below. If anyone has ordered it, could you post a picture of the label or post the AK# on the packaging so I can trace it back to the processing plant?
The first time I ordered chicken breasts from Zaycon was on a friends’ recommendation. I was very happy with it. The next time I ordered (2 40lb boxes) It was terrible. It was so tough and chewy that the only was to use it was to pound it out paper thin, and even that was hit and miss. Thinking that it was a fluke I ordered again about a year later. It was the same terrible tough and chewy experience. The only way I can use it is in the pressure cooker and that doesn’t fit all my chicken needs so I won’t be ordering again. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how inexpensive it is, if you can’t eat it. I haven’t ordered any of their other items so I can’t speak to them. I would like to try bacon but I’m hesitant because of the chicken experience.
We had the EXACT same experience. Customer service said they were changing suppliers, but I ordered again and the same thing happened. The only good things is they were quick to refund.
Some sources have said they are either old birds or because they are so large, they are tough.
I will never order from them again (especially after reading all these complaints).
I have ordered from Zaycon for about 5 years. However, I will NOT order their chicken breasts any longer. In the beginning, they were good. but the last three cases we ordered we could hardly eat it for its toughness and lack of flavor. We tried putting in crockpot and stewing it and we still could not eat it. They recently had it for $.99 per pound to offset their rescheduling two of my orders. Not much of an incentive since we won’t order chicken anymore. We have ordered the chicken fritters and love them, as well as the tenders, 90/10 hamburger and 80/10 hamburger. We used to order the bacon-wrapped steaks and they were good but haven’t seen them for a long time. When I complained about the chicken, they said to send them pictures. Pictures don’t show you anything about the tenderness of the meat! We tried two more times to our avail …. never again … three times bitten. I am also considering not ordering anymore. We used to get our orders in about 60 to 90 days and now it is getting up to 4 to 5 months before we get it and have already paid for it. Seems like they are using our dollars to run their business for those months. Not feeling really comfortable about that. Also order a case of the turkey hamburger and it tasted so bad we gave it away. My husband doesn’t want ground turkey now at all because of that experience.
I have purchased from Zaycon for about 3 years now. Bacon, hot dogs, chicken breast, whole chicken , sausage and ground beef. Have always been satisfied until my last order which was ground beef. It was prepackaged in 1 pound bags and FROZEN!! Now that is one of Zaycon’s big selling points is their meat isn’t frozen. I didn’t realize this until I was gone because the driver conveniently puts the boxes in the back for me. I was very surprised to find frozen meat when I opened the box. I decided to let it slide UNTIL I opened the first nice red meated package and saw very brown meat inside of the pretty red outside. I sent an email and was told not to worry about it. Oh, but I did worry about it. I demanded a refund and then was told if I took it to a food bank and sent Zaycon a donation receipt they would refund my money. I don’t give food to needy that I woukdn’t eat myself so no, I am not happy. I have another email in requesting a full refund. Frozen beef is unacceptable but frozen brown beef is totally unethical sales practice.
I am glad to find your article about Zaycon. I have no axe to grind. I ordered the chicken breast and it was a great deal. My sister and I split the order and I vacuum packed it. The breasts were GIGANTIC tough and gamey We both threw ours out before we finished it. Just my experience and they wouldn’t be so popular if they were always this way. It’s enough to stay away even though they are running a great 99 cents a pound special now. STILL not worth it.
I was one of the first customers using Zaycon Fresh Food for their chicken ( at the time that was the Only product that they were selling), At first the chicken was AWESOME! Then they brought in the ground meat-(we did that also), loved it. The problem started when they started to get too big. They brought in hot dogs, sausages, pork etc… My daughter said she wanted to buy the hot dogs as she was certain that since the chicken & beef were good/clean then they would be good also…..WRONG!!! They had so much filler, nitrates, etc in them that they gave us ALL stomach problems. We could not eat either the hot dogs or the sausages, we could NOT give them away & we didn’t want to throw them out, so we used the hot dogs for fish bait when we went fishing. The sausage was cooked & given to the dogs. Customer Service was no help what so ever, so after that we have NOT bought from them again. It seems that they got too big & couldn’t keep the “Freshness” going. Sad that it happened.
THANK YOU ALL for your reviews. I purchased my first 40lbs of chicken… won’t get till March, before I read all of the comments. From what I read, I’ve made some notes…. my order states “fresh and never frozen”… so I will make a note to check this for sure that it isn’t frozen. https://cdn2.zayconfresh.com/documents/products/chicken-breasts-mar2017pdf I had always planned to slow cook all of it and shred, so I will make a note of this as well. I didn’t see anything about injections… we don’t do soy in this house. Soy feed is okay but not in a brine. I am in Kentucky with Purdue and Tyson farms all around and a local “farmers” processing “plant” within 30 minutes of me… so I am hoping that this will result in good quality of chicken. As someone else pointed out… these are most likely laying hens. I will try to update my review in March.
Tiffany have you reviewed the other items you’ve ordered?
I haven’t yet Arin, but I’ve only tried their Kansas City steaks – they are AWESOME! We have been very pleased with the quality and taste and I would definitely order those again. I’m still waiting on my shrimp!
So I got my chicken and while it seemed not frozen in the top bags… the bags on the bottom had ice crystals. The good thing was that I wasn’t going to freeze. 20 lbs got cooked right away and the next 20 a few days later. I slow cooked and shredded and it was all good. I used my foodsaver and now have bags and bags of shredded chicken for all things using chicken. If they were old hens, then I feel even better because I hate paying all that money for good tender chicken breasts just to cook the heck out of them.
I haven’t ordered from this company and after reading this, probably wont. I purchase meat two ways. We have a butcher that is 40 minutes away. Going there, I can get what I want in the amount that I want it, and can talk to the butcher about the very local farm the meat is coming from. Sometimes can even talk to the farmers as they pull up with loaded stock trailers full of cows, pigs etc.
The other way is from our grocery store called Harris Teeter, which by and large is not the cheapest place to do grocery shopping as a whole, but the sales they have on beef, pork, natural chicken etc., cone out to half the price of the prices listed here. And the meat tastes good. With online shopping, I can order from my sofa in pajamas and pick up in a few hours…not months..and get really good prices. A quick word about chicken breasts. While they have genetically bred them to have huge breast now, 1 pound chicken breast is not normal. So they are either tough from being old chickens, or tough from being forced to grow that big. I’m assuming it’s the second of the two, because today’s commercially raised big breasted chicken can’t stand up when it’s an adult due to its breast size. So they harvest them young. You stated they haven’t been given antibiotics or hormones, but you failed to mention steriods. From a “dirty food” perspective, chicken and turkey are at the top of this list because of what is in their feed to make them go from a little fuzzy yellow chicks to a (in this case) one pounder breast in 6-7 weeks.
Another note..everyone here is talking about how fresh the meat is, yet because it is purchased in cases, everyone seems to be bringing it home and freezing, canning it. And freezing meat without a quick freeze (commercial), can often times give an off taste. Bones in the turkey…not a good price if it causes a trip to the dentist…think I’ll stay local and shop sales to keep my freezer full. ***tip…most grocery stores will sell you an already frozen case of anything on sale. We had strip loin roasts…usually $17.99/lb, on sale for $$8.99. I asked them for a case and they gave it to me. Froze some as roasts, sliced others into steaks.
so you just went to the grocery store butcher and said “do you have a frozen case of strip loin roast?” and they went in back and got it for you? i am intrigued!
We have ordered chicken breast several times from Zaycon and we have noticed the chewy texture as well. It’s never the entire order just several in each batch. My wife and I always thought it was just us since everyone else seems to like it. It’s always so weird because the texture is like the chicken is still raw in parts although it’s fully cooked. So we are always nervous that we are eating non cooked chicken. We have never had a problem with the taste. We have always been happy with the ground beef when we order it.
So interested that your chicken was weird. Their farmers vary so many it was an off batch 🙁 We have purchased the chicken and my parents no less than 10 times. It is to the point I won’t buy other chicken. That reason for me is it doesn’t have fillers so no shrinkage. I can use a two breasts for any meal and it be perfect for the whole family from casseroles, filette it so for breast meals, or even chicken strips. I always freeze two breasts together.
Glad your bacon and steak were good. We just tried our second meat type as beef and so far it’s good!
I talked a couple of my co-workers to go in on a purchase of chicken breasts last year. Our first purchase was outstanding! One of my co-workers decided that he would make all of our purchases moving forward. We agreed as he was fronting the $$$. He has gone crazy with orders and I think we may have tried everything at least once. So our second order of chicken I did not enjoy. Like others commenting, it was tough. My take on it though was that when they were removing the feathers, perhaps they left them in the hot water too long as there was a 1/2″ layer of white on most of them. If I cut that off, they weren’t that tough. But I canned all of my shares anyhow as I only have a fridge freezer. Even if I didn’t like it after that, I have 4 cats and a dog who do love it! We’ve had the pork tenderloins twice and they were outstanding both times, but the second time, the label was from a farm that also distributes to a local grocery. The bacon is to die for! I love it! We just picked up our 3rd order of that along with breakfast sausage links. I haven’t tried the sausage yet, but cooked a pound last night for future use and it smelled fantastic. All this being said, I will no longer participate in orders with my friends for a couple of reasons. One is the quantity as I live alone and even splitting orders, 12-13#’s of meat is too much. The second reason is because of the couple of orders that I just didn’t like the meat quality. If I’m going to be disappointed, I’d rather it was a small quantity that I had to throw away rather than the amount I purchase from them. I love the concept of what they are doing and I wish them the best. They are expanding and I hope that their quality goes back again to the way it used to be. I will continue to partake when the bacon is ordered but I am fairly certain that I won’t purchase any of their other products. I’m a big fan of buying local and when I started with them, that’s what they said I was eating. Now I’m not certain who they are getting supplies from so I will just continue with my local farmers on my own.
Thanks for all the comments, not so sure I’ll order after seeing this. I’m wondering where everyone is from, if that affects the chicken, or maybe time of year they are raised? I rarely slow cook chicken, so the idea of having to figure out how to salvage 40 pounds is not at all appealing. We have Aldi’s locally, which sells family packs of boneless breasts for $1.89/lb all the time . I may try the beef or shrimp though.
I just ordered our first 40lb box of chicken breasts (.99!! on sale!) for delivery in a couple of months to give us time to clear out the basement freezer. I intend to post again on our experience and really appreciate the perspective and ideas posted in the original piece and comments. I grew up with chickens and would note, as to the toughness issue, that yard birds are always tougher than the commercial box raised chickens. I’m not sure that’s the issue here given the reported large size of the breasts, but we intend to pound some, chop some and slice some prior to freezing and will crockpot any that seems tough. I hope that’s not an issue as it seems to be hit or miss based on the comments.
Do you have an update on how things have gone for you?
I purchased the shrimp for January 8th delivery … I arrived at pick-up location and wasn’t sure what to look for since this was my 1st purchase. Pick-up was at a church … ran into one person who had no clue about them-got back in car and called, only to find out there was a delay in “customs” so delivery would be at a future date. Was told emails were sent out but I never received an email at all-checked all delete and spam and no email. I personally questioned the quality now, considering it would be about a month before delivery. I received an email on new delivery after that and picked up which was easy enough. Now I really do question the quality – I used a small portion to add to a dish and the shrimp seemed “mealy” – not particularly firm. Two days ago I thawed out a 2 lb. bag in water and probably 1/2 of the tails came off while thawing out in water. This should not happen – where are these shrimp really from? Next time I use more, if they’re still the same consistency, I’ll be contacting Zaycon – these are extremely poor quality.
I’m sorry your experience with the shrimp wasn’t the best Linda. We’ve actually enjoyed them!! (we did have the same issue with the delay too)
Found my way here because I’m considering an order. They have a deal right now for $.99/lb on your first order. My thought is: the absolute cheapest chicken I can get at the store is $1.89/lb on sale and it is almost always tough and chewy, has been frozen, and has “rib meat” added in. So, it seems worth the gamble to me. Sometimes being frugal means you have to compromise a little and get creative.
I agree – let us know how your order turns out Jamie!
I love Zaycon’s salmon! We ordered their ground beef once, and it was bouncy. Since then, we have stuck to the salmon.
I recently ordered the pork tenderloins and they are packaged just like at the grocery store, two loins vacuum sealed and frozen. I generally split my orders with another family so we each got 5 packs. We grilled one last night and it was not as juicy and tender as “grocery store” pork but it was still tasty and I usually slow cook it instead of going from freezer to grill.
Thanks for the update KF!
I orders the 40# of chicken breast and just picked up my order yesterday. I loved how easy the pick up was, just drove up gave the guy my name, another guy stuck the box in my back seat and I was off. We did cut it up and put if in freezer bags last night. I also gave about 5# to both my mother and daughter. Guess I will see what it tastes like soon enough when we try it. I will also ask my daughter and mother for their reviews as well.
I really wanted some other types of meat as well, but they do not offer anything by chicken breast close to me. And since I work full-time, I cannot take off work to pick up.
Here’s an idea for cooking chicken that won’t leave it tough or dry: Cook it in waterless cookware or even better still, a pressure cooker. Chicken comes out moist and flavorful. Season it however you want. All chicken will become tough as you microwave it (I.e., reheat leftovers), heat in a skillet or an oven, so in that case I recommend steaming it to keep it moist.
Thanks David! I tried cooking this chicken in my Instant Pot and it didn’t make a difference. 🙁
Did you try it with water in the bottom and chicken on the rack not in the water… mine was amazing
Interested in the 93/7 ground beef. Thoughts on that please?
TYIA
I love it. The one pound packages are very convenient to me and a cost saving because we all know that the grocery stores package odd amounts. I have not had any trouble and have gotten the hamburger several times.
Sorry, I didn’t have time to real all prior comments, so I apologize if this has been mentioned. The likely reason your chicken was no good was because you froze it yourself at home. When freezing meat, the speed at which it is frozen has a huge impact on what the taste and texture will be when it is ultimately thawed and cooked. This is why commercially, meat is flash frozen. Our freezers at home are nowhere near as cold as these flash freezes and therefore can’t get the job done as quickly. I’d recommend you don’t buy fresh unless it’s going to be used fresh. If you buy from Zaycon in the future, stick to the meats that come already frozen. Happy saving and eating!
Hi Ian – one of Zaycon’s selling points is that their meat is never frozen, but always fresh… I also always buy fresh meat (never frozen) and freeze at home and I’ve never had this issue before??
The ground meat is now sold frozen, not fresh.
I would also like to say that while the freezing method could be a factor for some of the toughness, for me it was the striping issue which causes that woody texture. And unfortunately this defect is becoming rampant on mass produced chicken these days. Even the organic, cage free stuff that sells for $9/lb at my store has some of it. I hope that farmers can find a solution to that. Also these chicken breasts are ridiculously huge – 1 lb for each lobe! Riddled with fat (out of the 40 lbs, I threw away 5 lbs of fat alone). I did eat some of the Zaycon chicken the night I brought it home, without freezing it first. Woody texture, it was awful. My location is north Alabama, so maybe other regions have better luck.
YES! That’s what we found – that striping issue. I don’t know what the official term of it is, but the chicken looked like it was striped with fat or silver skin or membranes or something else that was very hard to eat. I’m in North Georgia, so I wonder if we got some of the same batch?
Maybe so! Mine said it came from Wayne Farms somewhere in northern Georgia, so very well could be the same farm!
We ordered chicken with your referral and the chicken was FROZEN I had to wait all day for it to thaw even a little bit to separate the chicken. That doesn’t happen and it is rare they said but I could donate and get a refund for credit. It was way more than I wanted to deal with and won’t order again. Chicken tasted OK
we picked up our order yesterday. everything was fresh and our meat tasted just as good, maybe better, than what i’d get at my local grocery store. Nothing was frozen.
I just got my order last week, I’m a good cook and picky eater, the chicken was excellent and fresh, I would order again!
Thanks for sharing Jennifer!
I made my first order with Zaycon nearly a year ago. Due to THEM cancelling and rescheduling, I have yet to receive anything! They are holding my payment for the first order a year ago so I keep waiting. IS this a SCAM?? I CAN’T GET MY MONEY BACK.
With the recent reschedule, I can’t be there as I will be working. This means I will wait another year! I don;t expect to ever see my money BUT BE AWARE before ordering from Zaycon
I would definitely contact their customer service again and request a refund Laurie. A year is a long time!
I have contacted them and again!
This company used to be VERY good but has since spiralled downhill. I think they are too greedy with their profit margin and aren’t concerned with what the customers want anymore. Don’t be FOOLED by their name. VERY FEW items are offered in a fresh/not previously frozen state anymore. And many of the frozen items have additives. When I order a beef roast, that’s what I expect to get…100% meat, not juice to preserve color. I have since abandoned ordering from them and stick with my trusted local grocer. Even if they receive it frozen, they will sell it to me frozen instead of me picking up a store thawed product, only for me to take it home to refreeze it. Apparently Zaycon doesn’t understand consumers concerned with quality are willing to pay a little more for fresh vs frozen. Whether I use their products from a fresh state or freeze them myself (in whatever size package I need for my household) is up to me. I really miss the 93/3 chubs of ground beef. I could slice off two burgers worth and freeze in perfect round patties. Or cut a big 2 lb chunk for spaghetti sauce or meatloaf, all in the same 10 lb chub. Perhaps they should change their name to Zaycon FROZEN,
To the trash with approximately 40 pounds of unusable product…
Today my daughter and I decided to trash the rest of the chicken and ground turkey in our freezers – chicken was like rubber and the turkey was so mushy it was pure soup when it thawed. We purchased these last summer (delivery in Michigan) and just can’t find a way to use the product that produces a satisfactory dish and, frankly, we just can’t stomach trying to eat any more of these orders. Our first purchase of chicken was wonderful, each piece was tender and very flavorful! We enjoyed having it on hand, splitting orders between us. The convenience of bulk fresh meat was the biggest selling point to us!
Sadly, these last two orders were awful and we are chalking them up as a bad investment. Buying any meat is a gamble it seems these days, and sadly this gamble cost us a lot of money because of the volume of the purchase. Also, please note that there is not a 501(c) anywhere in our county that will take delivery of this product. We consider this process poor customer service when the solution is for the customer to do the legwork to “maybe” achieve a refund. We ordered for the convenience of a bulk purchase and found it an error on our part.
Great concept for purchasing meat but we will pass on future purchases. Good luck Zaycon, we wish you success. Remember – your customers are what holds your business up!
Most of our orders from Zaycon have been for both the shrimp and salmon. Every order has been outstanding. We have ordered chicken breasts in the past but no longer do so. Our difficulty with the chicken was that the order is too big. A word about cooking chicken breasts. Most of the time they get over cooked. Since I discovered “Sous Vide” cooking my chicken breasts are always moist, tender and never over cooked. In fact it’s almost impossible to over cook anything using this method. Google it, there’s a wealth of info available.
We found the chicken to be tough, chewy and sort of tasteless. But, the ground beef, chuck roasts, pork tenderloins, pork chops, and bacon have all been GREAT!! I have had to call customer service a few times and they have been so nice and very easy to work with. I’m very happy with pretty much all of our experience with Zaycon. 🙂
I have been ordering from Zaycon for several years, many different products. Most have been very good. I will probably not be purchasing the chicken thighs again. due to inconsistentency in the quality. First time I ordered the thighs, they were plump, juicy and not frozen. The next time they came frozen in packages as if from a cheap grocery. Small with some freezer burn. Since then, they’ve come hacked up, flattened and frozen. Often, the delivery dates are delayed, sometimes a month later. Overall, i’m satisfied with Zaycon and the products, The inconsistency bothers me though, and I believe that their advertising is also inconsistent and sometimes flat out false. I hope they get things together as the Zaycon concept is brilliant.
I am from NH and agree with you, ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE PICK UP PROCESS! But besides that, it was the BEST tasting chicken I’ve ever had!!! I buy chicken tenderloins for 2 spoiled dogs that I watch 2 days a week and they agree!!! They will eat 2 small platefulls of Zaycon chicken over the tenderloins!!!!! I am a customer for life! Have shrimp, ribs, thighs, chops and pork tenderloins coming. Can’t wait to try these also!!!!!!
I ordered chicken breasts over 2 months ago with a delivery date of June 12. A month ago it was moved to June 11 (not bad). Just received another e-mail moving it yet again…. to July 18th. I am debating on just canceling the whole thing.
I purchased the chicken breast. I was amazed at how big they were. They our a little chewy but not bad.
I was wondering if anyone has ordered the bacon? They our having a special code to get it even cheaper.
As of yesterday, Zaycon Fresh has ceased business. No word yet on refunds or “future” orders. Please share if you hear anything regarding this business.
Really? We’ll have to look into that!
Ack! I was thinking of ordering just two months ago. I’m so glad I didn’t. I googled and seen this http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jun/26/zaycon-fresh-bulk-meat-delivery-business-closes-cu/
https://www.zayconfresh.com/
Not much info :/
I went to pick up chicken wings and bacon tonight because it was on the schedule, but they had sent me an email that I had not read yet saying “Last night the Zaycon Refer Trailer had a major mechanical breakdown that was not able to be repaired nor was a replacement unit able to be secured in time. As a result all of the remaining product on the trailer is a total loss. We are needing to cancel your event due to the loss of the product. We sincerely apologize for this and are working on a solution. We will send a notification tomorrow with an update.
Warmly,
The Zaycon Team”
I hope I get my money back.
That team needs to be put in lock up as they have cheated many of us and are now going bankrupt and owe me almost $400.00 while coming up with all kinds of excuses for not delivering! I was postponed three times on my codcand shrimp! Excuse were because of delivery place at church! They use churches as part of their con job! Put all who participated in jail as this elderly retired gentleman has been duped!
Very sad they have closed, not sure where we will be going now. The items I will miss the most are:
Bacon, amazing!
Pork back ribs. They cook perfect every time now what am I going to do?
Argentina Red Shrimp. The best I’ve ever had!
Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloins. I know you can get these other places but theirs were exceptional.
Hot dogs, theirs were excellent but I’m sure there are other great ones out there
Roasts. Again we can find elsewhere but theirs were super good
Steaks, same story very good but we will endure
Sad day for our house!!!
I truly cannot believe how badly Zaycon handled this shutdown. They have provided exceptional customer service in the three years I’ve ordered from them, and I’ve never had a problem with the quality. If they indeed filed Chapter 11, they would have known about this weeks if not months in advance, and yet they’ve been continuing to sell product as recently as this past weekend, with aggressive marketing campaigns at lower than usual prices. They rescheduled our planned deliveries multiple times. Then they promptly shut down their website, social media, disconnected their phone, left a perfunctory and unhelpful message to the at least hundreds of people with outstanding orders, and dropped off the map. They have stated to the BBB that they will not respond to BBB claims. They have not given any option to refund orders. I am out $252 and disputing the transaction with banks is questionable given that the time between payment and delivery dates often exceeds 90 days (especially when they keep bumping the orders back.) It honestly feels like they were deliberately trying to sell as much product as possible before closing. Worse still, it appears not even drivers knew of the impending shutdown, as they found out the same time we did that they were out of a job.
What a colossal disappointment after years of loyal service. I look forward to the class action lawsuit.