Pine Hill Cattle Company goes direct-to-consumer route for success

By JOHN BARTIMOLE

Special to Olean Times Herald | November 8. 2025

(Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of eight articles spotlighting the businesses making up the 2025 Laine Business Accelerator cohort.)

“Where’s the beef?” is an enduring, legendary advertising slogan made famous by Wendy’s in 1984 and still used today when comparing the merits of arguments or products. Jeff Andrews, however, not only knows where the beef is — he’s helped to build a thriving business of raising and selling high-quality beef and other meat products to the public. Pine Hill Cattle Company is a small, family-owned beef, dairy and chicken farm that traces its roots back to 1893.

“That’s when my great grandparents purchased the land that the farm now sits on,” he said. “It began as a subsistence farm — they ate what they grew, for the most part. At some point it became a selling farm, selling their products to the public, slowly morphing into the precursor of what it is today.” The business, which is in the 2025 Laine Business Accelerator cohort, has had to make a variety of strategic decisions over the years as it evolved into its present iteration — primarily a seller of meat products to the public.

“We’ve looked at the commodity side of selling, meaning we would sell in very large quantities to commercial entities,” he said. “But in order to survive in that environment, you have to be a very low-cost producer. And we simply can’t compete.

“We also looked at selling meat directly to large commercial consumers, and it’s very risky, also,” he continued. “So, we pivoted to the more focused direct to consumer beef and chicken side of things.” And that has made all of the difference for the business which Andrews runs with his parents, Tom and Margie. “We sell beef directly by the whole and half and quarter, as well as by the piece; we also sell chickens as whole birds as well as in pieces.

“Everything we sell here is born and raised on our farm,” he continued. “And we’ve had no issue in selling out our animal products.”

In fact, Andrews said, one of the problems his business faces is getting ample butcher dates to cut and prepare the meat, and label and vacuum seal it for the consumer.

Andrews, who has degrees from Alfred State College and Cornell University, knew that it was his destiny to return to the family farm. “In fact, there was no attraction whatsoever to not coming back to the farm,” he said. “But I did work on a large dairy farm with 1,700 cows and 20 employees in central New York for awhile. At Cornell, they do recommend that before going back.”

His involvement in the Laine Business Accelerator can be traced to a family member’s sister, who recommended that he apply for inclusion. And he sees the benefits already.

“Yes, it’s helping me,” he said. “I can do a really good job growing steers and cows, but I welcome the help with the rest of the business.

“And while the speakers who present are great and informative, just as important is what you pick up in conversations with other members of the LBA … the bits and pieces of the conversations when they talk about their business and how they handled certain problems.

“To me, in addition to the programs, the best part of the LBA and the most important part is the camaraderie, interactions and conversations that occur during the weekly meetings.”

So, if you’re wondering where the beef is, Andrews will gladly tell you it’s on Pine Hill Road in Randolph.