Miami-based Meat N' Bone is assembling institutional firepower around its premium protein retail concept, announcing a five-member Strategic Advisory Committee as it pursues $4 million in Pre-Series A equity to fund national franchising, logistics infrastructure, and marketing. The move signals the brand's intent to graduate from a regional multi-channel operator into a scalable, nationally recognized premium protein platform in a category it pegs at $400 billion with no dominant national brand.
The company currently runs eight boutique retail locations and a central fulfillment center in South Florida, selling chef-grade beef, pork, poultry, seafood, caviar, and game through in-store, same-day delivery, and nationwide DTC shipping channels. Three food-and-beverage concepts — The Wagyu Bar, The Wagyu House, and Get The Cook — operate alongside the retail footprint. Meat N' Bone projects $13.5 million in revenue for 2026 and has fulfilled more than 500,000 orders for over 150,000 customers to date.
The Advisory Roster
The five advisors collectively bring more than 110 years of industry experience spanning CPG brand-building, protein supply chain, experiential marketing, and capital governance. Rob Wilder, Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of José Andrés Group, adds multi-unit hospitality scale and category-defining brand credibility — JAG operates 45-plus restaurants across North America and the Bahamas. Deb Luster, founding team member of Annie's Homegrown — now a $1 billion brand under General Mills — delivers three decades of CPG social-impact positioning, the kind of brand equity architecture that drives premium pricing and loyalty at retail. Carlos M. Herrera, former President and CEO of the $180 million Durham Meat and Seafood platform (Sierra Meat, Flocchini, MacDonald Meats), provides direct protein manufacturing and distribution expertise that few premium concepts can access at the board level.
Barry T. Kates, founder of Innovative Group, rounds out the marketing bench with brand activation experience across PepsiCo, Heineken, and Red Bull — credentials that translate well to event-driven experiential retail and sampling programs. Roberto Lopez, CEO of RRA Group and Meat N' Bone's first institutional backer, stays on in a governance capacity.
Expansion Targets and Category Opportunity
The strategic plan calls for more than 40 company-owned and franchised boutiques generating over $70 million in revenue by 2029, with a longer-term path to $100 million. Each boutique is designed to function as a local fulfillment hub — supporting same-day pickup, delivery, and nationwide shipping from a single inventory node, a hybrid model that differentiates Meat N' Bone from frozen-only direct-to-consumer protein competitors and gives it an operational profile closer to specialty grocery than traditional butcher retail.
For operators and category managers tracking the premium protein shelf, the Meat N' Bone expansion is worth watching. The premium meat and seafood category has seen sustained velocity gains as consumers trade up from commodity proteins, and differentiated retail formats with strong DTC data histories are increasingly attractive to regional grocery partners and food hall operators. The Pre-Series A raise, if completed, would give the company runway to prove the franchise unit economics that investors — and potential retail partners — will need to see before a broader CPG brand-building story takes shape.
"This Board of Advisors represents exactly the right blend of brand-building prowess, hospitality expertise, supply-chain mastery and capital discipline we need to establish Meat N' Bone as America's premium protein leader," said Luis Mata, CEO of Meat N' Bone.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
