Nestled right inside the door in a storefront in downtown Ada, consumers can get fresh, locally processed beef with just the touch of a screen and a quick swipe of a credit card.
Coal County Farm Bureau member and District Eight Oklahoma Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee member Jaclyn Darling oversees the operations of what she said is the first beef vending machine in the state of Oklahoma.
Darling, a third-generation cattle rancher from Coalgate, works, with National Livestock and their 1931 Legacy Ranch store in Ada to provide fresh beef any time of day to consumers in the Ada area.
As part of Darling’s role with the store and National Livestock, she works with the beef processor to get the cuts found in the store’s freezers and in the vending machine. She
also coordinates beef purchases for a few local restaurants in Ada that want to use ranch-fed beef.
Darling said the pandemic brought forth the idea of selling fresh beef directly to consumers, and the initial process began with an actual storefront with frozen beef.
“Since there was a beef shortage and processors were backed up during COVID, National Livestock wanted to get directly to consumers with fresh beef,” Darling said.
The 1931 Legacy Ranch store opened in February of 2024 to bring the ranch-fed beef dream to life. The vending machine followed suit shortly after in the fall of 2024 to provide fresh beef directly to consumers.
While the average vending machine is simple and designed to dispense items with uniform shapes and sizes like soda cans or candy bars, a beef vending machine is similar, but not all cuts of beef are the same shape or size.
Darling said the vending machine had to be special-ordered from a company in California. To get the coils that help dispense the beef configured in the correct size for specific cuts of beef, they had to mail selected cuts to the manufacturer to have the coils correctly sized for the vending machine.
“We have to be careful of what cuts we load into the vending machine,” Darling said. “Since the coils have been sized for certain cuts of beef.”
The vending machine sat for five to sixth months after it was delivered before it was available to the public as staff tested the machine. With the correct coils installed and the payment process set up, the vending machine was ready to be used.
The cuts of beef that are in the vending machine and available for customers includes ground beef, filets, New York strips and ribeyes.
The meat is vacuum-packed and kept chilled inside the machine instead of frozen, allowing customers to swing by the store on their way home from work and purchase beef that they can cook that evening.
The temperature inside the vending machine stays between 33 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure the meat will not freeze.
The vending machine has a large touchscreen on the front where customers can view the cuts of beef in stock and select their choice of meat.
Once the cut has been selected, customers are prompted to pay with a credit card. After the payment is processed, the cut of beef is dispensed from the bottom of the machine, then customers have fresh beef ready to cook.
Darling said its just like any other vending machine, the only difference is this one has beef in it.
The beef vending machine is open 24/7, since it is located just inside the foyer of the 1931 Legacy Ranch store making it easily accessible even after the store is closed.
“The vending machine is restocked every 21 days,” Darling said. “We take calves to the processor every three weeks, then they hang for 14 days, and it usually takes a week to get the beef cuts.”
Darling said depending on the specific beef cuts ordered from the processor, the vending machine can be sold out within 18 days. Due to its popularity, the machine can sometimes sit empty for a few days while fresh cuts of beef are prepared by the processor.
The beef sold in the vending machine and in the store comes from producers who sell their cattle through National Livestock. The beef is processed locally by H&L Processing in Coalgate.
“We try to keep the beef mostly from local Oklahoma families,” Darling said. “The cattle used are mostly from families that sell through National Livestock, that way we know where the beef we are selling comes from.”
As customers walk past the entryway that houses the vending machine and step into the store, the 1931 Legacy Ranch retail space greets them with a range of boutique items like clothes and candles to a wall full of beef, seasonings and grilling supplies. The back of the store houses a restaurant that features a daily lunch ranging from soups to salads to sandwiches.
All the beef in the store comes from the same producers as the chilled beef found in the vending machine. The cuts found in the store are also what you would find in a grocery store. However, this is family-raised beef.
Darling said working with the processor to get the beef cuts consumers like has been a learning experience for her and an opportunity to educate consumers who come to purchase beef.
“I think as cattle producers we’re really guilty of just assuming we know everything,” Darling said. “Once you are working with consumers every day and that’s your only focus, you realize you don’t know everything.”
Darling said producers like herself are used to getting their own beef from the freezer and not paying much attention to the packaging or the look of the label. Consumers who come into purchase beef pay close attention to packaging and what it looks like.
The main customer base of National Livestock are cattle producers themselves and other agriculture producers who rely on National Livestock for their cattle marketing and other cattle-related services. With the vending machine located in downtown Ada, Darling is able to market beef to everyone in the area, and not just interact with rural agricultural producers.
Darling said she has enjoyed educating the community about beef as the store uses the Oklahoma Beef Council’s flyers and cookbooks to share with customers how to prepare and cook beef.
“We have received a lot of praise stories,” Darling said. “People really appreciate having ranch-fed beef in the store. We have been told you really can taste a difference in our beef compared to what you would normally find at the grocery store.”
With the beef vending machine quietly humming along just inside the threshold of the 1931 Legacy Ranch store ensuring quality beef is available to Ada residents on errand runs around town, Darling and her staff have new and unique opportunities to provide quality agricultural products to their friends and neighbors while sharing the important work farmers and ranchers take on each
and every day.
