In the prior post – I outlined what Zaycon Fresh is and largely how they operate. This post is focused on the real world experience I personally encountered as a first time consumer.
Let me start by saying – you get a ton of food, and if you don’t have a freezer apart from your refrigerator be very careful about how much food you purchase.
Purchasing Online
The online experience was super simple. I created an account on their site, and threw in my zip code to see what kinds of sales events were coming up. Once I filtered on my distance range from my zip code, I was able to discern what was for sale about 3 months out.
Note – if you think you can purchase from Zaycon and pick up the next day or even in the next week – think again. They presell into their events 2-3 months in advance, and I’m sure this helps them to keep their costs down.
So I chose some 90/10 lean ground turkey (40 lbs), some sausage, and some chicken breasts amounting to 86 pounds of meat. I landed upon a pickup time on a Saturday, as I wasn’t entirely sure how long the lines would be let alone how exactly this would all work being such a noobie. Doing it on a Saturday proved to be a lifesaver…
Once I selected the food and the delivery date/location – I then threw my credit card into their site, and much like any other online store – it was a done deal with a confirmation email outlining the logistics.
The Pick Up
Fast forward about 2 months, and I find myself pulling into a parking lot at a local church where a refrigerated moving truck is stationed with orange cones indicating a drive up lane. I pull up and give them my name, number, and I think I gave the lone driver my ID to verify everything. From there, he helps me load up my SUV, and I’m out of there. All done in less than 5 minutes – super convenient, and strangely easy. Sometimes it takes me longer to return the damn shopping cart at the supermarket. Wow – totally blew me away, and the guy was actually really very cool. I found out later that he’s a volunteer, and that Zaycon recruits helpers for dropoff/pickup days. I have not volunteered yet, although I love the idea of doing so down the line.
Getting The Food Home
This is where things went sideways for me in a big way. I got home, and realized even if I were to break apart the 40 1lb bricks of ground turkey, and dismantled the other packing for the chicken and sausages – I was out of room in my standalone freezer and the freezer in the bottom of my fridge. Piss poor planning on my part, no doubt. I really did not think that it would be so much food for less than $180.
Well it was, and it was actually a ton of food.
So what to do?
I had to get another freezer, which I knew I needed to do eventually – it was not an important nor urgent task given my recent move into my new home. Well now it was urgent and important given my investment of 86 pounds of flesh and the meat would soon start to thaw.
So I set out to get a freezer at Costco’s, and given my passengers on this given day – I did not have the room to put a mini cube freezer in the back of the SUV. So the now the first step was to rent a trailer mid-day on a Saturday here in Dallas, and after eventually securing one – I was able to get the freezer loaded onto the trailer and home.
Breaking out the freezer in the garage, getting it going and loading up the food took another hour or so. The freezer was essentially jammed by the time I was done. Satisfied with my packing skills with 40 bricks of turkey meat, I set out to return the trailer back at Home Depot.
The Food Itself
Three months later, I’m still working on that turkey, I’ve had about half the chicken, and I’ve yet to touch the sausage – the freezer is halfway full. The food quality has been exceptionally good, the turkey doesn’t have the occasional bit of bone that you find in most ground turkey – which has historically been a bit of a turn off for me when I have this kind of product. I have managed to use the ground turkey in stews, gluten-free meatballs, a slew of various Indian and Italian dishes, and the chicken breast quality has been even higher. I normally get my chicken at Costcos, and I always go for the non hormone type of chicken.
Well Zaycon’s stuff is just better.
I have yet to try the sausage, although I’m sure it is going to be very good.
The value and the convenience of the packaging has been incredibly helpful when cooking for 4 and for doing the meal prep on Sundays / Mondays. Zaycon’s lean ground turkey is among the most economical and fresh (after thawing the meat) options that I’ve come across.
Going Forward
I’ve already signed up for their bacon event, more chicken, and I’m toying with some steak as well. Given that all of their meat is sourced locally and from smaller farms – I am super confident that steak options will be incredible. Knowing that my next order will be here in the next month does have me pressing a bit to get the original order consumed sooner than later. Truly a first world problem.
By some estimates, the costs here are about half. You have to drive to a set location during a set window of 30 minutes to pick up your food, and you have to be ready to handle bulk quantities. If you are already used to Costco or Sam’s Club – this will not be a stretch for you. Ensure you have enough freezer space to handle the volume of food, and if you are mindful of all of these caveats – you will definitely save yourself a ton of money and secure a superior product for your and your family.
I’ll be a customer for the foreseeable future as they are saving me a substantial amount of money, and numerous trips to Krogers and Aldi’s to get the same amount of food.
A single online transaction.
A single trip.
An immense discount over what you’d pay online, in a supermarket, and definitely in a restaurant.
A superior product.
Wow – the convenience and quality coupled with the savings – it is a no brainer, and it helps to explain their exponential growth over the last few years with very passionate customers about the value prop.
They can now count me as one too.
Take a look at their offers over here.
