Coombe Farm Organic Reviews 

The organic Barnsley Chops were tough and we checked the packaging and the were frozen in October 2021 Delivered March 2022
Not what we expected
K Tait Devon

We've used Coombe Farm Organic for a year. Recently (end of October) two items in a game box felt a little light and when weighed came up short on the kitchen scales. A rabbit advertised on the website as '900g–1kg' was 804g, and a haunch of venison advertised and labelled as 1kg weighed 895 – both including packaging. It meant that buying the box was likely more expensive per kilo of meat than it would have been to buy each item individually. I had only overpaid by £1.50–£4, depending on how you calculate it, but I felt uncomfortable about the clear difference between the advertised/labelled weight and the actual weight, and I complained by email. I received an apology and a £5 voucher along with an assurance that Coombe Farm doesn't knowingly send out underweight meat. So far, OK.

Less than a month later, I made another order of meat for Christmas including two ducks to feed eleven people. I bought 'large' ducks, for which I was charged £4 more per duck than the 'medium' size. The large ducks were advertised online as weighing between 2.6 and 3.0 kg. I had them sent to the address where we would celebrate Christmas. On the day, weighing them to calculate roasting time, I found that one weighed 2.414 kg and the other 2.559, including their packaging. Both ducks were clearly labelled 'Large: 2.6–3 kg' on a machine-printed label.

This is not just a case of meat weighing less than the _middle_ value of an advertised weight-range (which would be stingy if consistently low, but would be legal and usually fair), but a matter of four items in two months falling below the advertised minimum threshold of the range, and in the case of the ducks the items were charged at a higher rate per item because of their 'large size' and then a smaller size was actually delivered. Caveat emptor.

To be fair, other items from Coombe Farm (although the portions are often small for the price) have weighed as expected – exactly the advertised weight in the case of mince or other 'dosable' items, a little over the advertised weight for items which naturally vary in size.

Although we've otherwise been pleased with the variety of offal and fats available from Coombe Farm Organic which it's hard to find elsewhere, and although we've not had the trouble with faulty packaging that others have complained of, I don't think we'll be buying from them again soon, and I recommend that anyone buying from Coombe Farm Organic (at least as of December 2021/January 2022) check the weight of their ordered meat, including any that is labelled as being within a particular weight range, and be prepared to contact them about any shortfall. If you don't mind expensive items arriving underweight here and there, the meat is good quality, tasty, and as mentioned there's lots of variety.

Having emailed them again, I expect a reply from them later this week when they open after New Year, and would hope that they will also provide an answer to this review which will give more information about what steps they've taken to correct whatever the problem is with their labelling and advertising.

In the meantime, reputable organic meat suppliers we have also used include Riverford (a more limited range but excellent quality and ethics), Peelham Farm (including mutton and some offal), Deli Farm (Cornwall; charcuterie), and Beal's (Sussex; mangalitza pork & charcuterie). We've also had Eversfield organic meat boxes recommended to us.

All good, came the next working day - packed to the max with ice bricks (which I'll recycle for ice baths/wim hof). Steak is very nice, liver is as nice as expected - but do feel really good and have more energy after eating it - which perhaps isn't surprising as I've been vegetarian for a couple of years but gave up after feeling exhausted and struggling to exercise as much

Received my first package from Coombe farm, like previous reviews my box was mostly defrosted which has put me off ordering again. I haven't tried all the meat yet, pork chops have a lot of fat on and not much meat, chicken legs and pork was nice, unfortunately we didn't like the sausages or meatballs, I am afraid we will not be ordering again.

I was at valley fest a few weeks ago and I came across a member of your staff completely paralytic on the floor and the reason I know it was your company was that she was wearing a coombe farm branded top, they then had to be taken away by two men as they were unable to stand on their own as result of me seeing it has put me off from buying anything from your company.

I came across a CFO offer on the Yeovalley website. I was so excited as I could use my Yeokens I have been collecting for years on something "decent". I had no choice of picking my own products but thought, oh let's just go with what I get sent, I'm sure it'll be good. The box arrived at midday (ish), already feeling quite wet on the outside. To be honest, on one of the hottest days of the year I was expecting a little bit more than some paper and a couple of icepacks as insulation. Needles to say most of the products had already been deforsted. The bacon started going yellowy/green on the edges and only the biggest piece, the 1kg portion of lamb felt still frozen enough to continue into the freezer. Very disappointed.

Dangerous and unsafe.

I ordered £100 of various meats. The website says that it is safe to send by courier for two days and it will still be frozen upon arrival. It was not. The packing was so poorly done that the box fell apart in transit. The bottom had obviously fallen out/open and only 1/4 of the meats were still frozen. Many were completly deforsted and could have been so for 2 days as the box was open and the contents may have spilled out and not had any ice packs.

There is obviously a very high chance of getting food poisoning from meats that could have been defrosted for two days and it would be dangerous to eat it.

I would strongly advise anyone who does not wish to get sick to order from a farm that at least sends meat in packages stong enough to not fall apart.

If I had read the other reviews complaining about meats arriving defrosted I would not have ordered from them.

A classic case of I wish I had come here to read the reviews and not just believed/taken at face value the all of the glowing reviews on the coombefarmorganic.com website.

I guess I want to just believe people are honest but every once in a while you get ripped off and are reminded that there are con artists out there.

We have used Coombe Farm Organic for a little while now, love their meat, all of it tastes as it should. We did, however, have a problem with our most recent order, which wasn't Coombe Farm's fault they were let down by their courier. For some unknown reason, our order was delayed in transit between leaving the farm and arriving at my home.
Consequently, when it did arrive 2 days after despatch about a third of the pack had defrosted, that caused us a problem so we rang Coombe Farm to complain.
It took a while, but they reponded magnificently, depatching a placement order very quickly which arrived on time.
Fuul marks to Coombe Farm for dealing with a situation that was not of their making.

Bought a click + collect frozen box recently and have to share my experience. 10/10 for packaging with everything beautifully presented. The filet steak was very good quality. The pies however were not - the meat in both pies (beef chilli + beef + ale) was the cheapest quality: tough and chewy with lumps of gristle. The beef chilli also tasted of bitter strong chilli more like a vindaloo. The experience of collecting the box was not well organised. Having arrived in the carpark, I was to ring + someone would bring my box out, however, the number was constantly engaged and having tried emailing too with no response, I eventually had to walk down and knock on the door to be told sorry but customer service were very busy! I will not be ordering again sadly. I do not like to give poor reviews but hopefully this is a constructive criticism to take on board.

Really good quality products with known provenance. A great range and the bone broths are superb. Excellent Customer service and highly efficient delivery.

Coombe farm meat is not only ethically sound but also absolutely delicious. Best bacon around - cut thick so you can really get the flavour. Delivery is reliable and packaging effective at keeping everything cold and fresh. Love it that they provide retired dairy cow beef too.

Ordered a selection of frozen organc pies for my dad as a gift. I was able to choose a delivery date which was really useful, and my dad really loved the pies.

We ordered a selection of products in the hope that we had, at last, found a one-stop shop for all our organic meat and fish needs. Ordering was easy and the next day delivery was excellent. So what went wrong? Well, as has already been pointed out in a previous review (and clearly not acted upon) the description of the Scottish salmon fillets “bigs-up” the provenance of these whereas the reality is they come from a Grimsby based mass-market supplier and labelled “Farmed in Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Faroes or Iceland”. Moreover, the weight supplied was less than advertised.

The customer service rep demanded that I provide proof of the weight so I had to go through the trash, recover the label and then scan it. A £3 refund was then made but it all felt quite begrudging.

What a shame …our ongoing business was there for the taking but they blew it!

Follow up after reading vendor's response:

The packaging clearly states 250g. Your website clearly states 260g. Do I need to contact Trading Standards for you to admit this?

Reading other reviews there seems to be a common thread .....only lip service is being paid to shortcomings in your customer service

Meat tastes nice but overpriced in my opinion. You just can't justify paying £6.50 for a few streaks of bacon or £6 for a couple of chicken burgers, however nice they taste.

Unlike most other companies, their offers are stingy and not enticing. They give a max of 10% off and when you buy multiple items as bundle, say bone broth for example, it works out as the same price per unit.

They also don't have a free shipping option over a certain amount and you have to pay a minimum of £40 just to secure and order, with full shipping.

I understand the logistics behind this, but offering a free delivery option over a certain spend is a strong incentive that would actually make the company more money.

The 3 stars really is just for the taste and nothing else. I would also add that the website is very intuitive to use though.

Do to delays from my farm I come across coombe farm organic.As a first time buyer I am very disappointed in the product. I didn’t expect the “fresh chicken “ to be frozen 4 months ago. Maybe my mistake but I couldn’t see anything about this when I put my order . First and last time from this farm I will not recommend!!!!!!🤬🤬🤬

Just received my assorted meat package from Coombes Organic and delivered right on time as promised.
However I am really disappointed at the portion sizes of meat particularly the oxtail and pork chops. The prices cannot be justified. We eat only organic meat so very well aquainted with its taste and occasionally try different suppliers to see how good their products are. Have yet to taste this Coombes meat package but seriously as good as it may be it's ridiculously overpriced. Spent over £90 and not pleased with the amount of meat I received, organic or not it is not priced well. I'm not a cheapskate but fair is fair. Disappointed. I won't be back.

Bought selection of meat and fish products for Christmas/ new year. Chicken tasted great. The frozen ham we also bought was reasonable taste much better than average and good consistency due to the slower animal rearing but not exceptional. Overall may buy again but I'm not sure transporting meat such distances is great idea. Delivery was to exact time using DPD. In winter it's fine but without a refrigerated delivery van I couldn't see it working so well in say mid summer.

Have yet to defrost and cook the salmon but I saw it is sourced from JCS Fish Limited a restaurant wholesaler based in Grimsby. On examining the packaging closely it was not possible to determine the country of origin or exactly where it was farmed other than it could be Scotland or Ireland or Iceland or Norway. I would have expected for such a premium priced product to determine the exact source of origin.

In terms of value for money it was not overly expensive given delivery distances but portion size of Salmon and bacon does not compare well with waitrose for similar products and per KG is on the expensive side. If I could move the farm to next door so I could buy fresh not frozen that would nicer.

Since my original view we have now eaten all products purchased. I do not think we will order from here again as the product was good but I would say fresh from a local supplier if you can find one is better.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING FOOD.
Bought a duck, chipolatas, chicken and ham pie and gravy (got a free chicken too) Had the duck and chipolatas Xmas day and delicious. The best duck and chipolatas ever tasted, definitely worth the money. The pie also very tasty. Not had the chicken or gravy yet but sure will taste just as good. Will not hesitate to buy from here again, thank you xxxx

Very happy with the help and guidance from Coombe Farm, as promised, the meat was delivered the next day.
The website is very easy to navigate around, and I was also impressed with the amount to choose from, although, I wish I could have been able to choose a morning delivery slot.
OMG, the meat I have tasted has been mouth-watering, the meat bone broth I made was out of this world...I have now cracked the art of gravy making!
I am looking forward to my future orders.

My order arrived defrosted was a gift from my mum was inedible despite being told can be eaten but as meat kept in transit for over two days not possible
Communication company poor eventual resending but no compassion as to event they ruined
Will not receommed due to poor customer service