i buy direct from him so there are no middle man fees (distributors, grocery stores, ad/marketing firms, etc.) taking a cut along the way. and he's local so shipping/transport isn't a cost either. he owns his own processing facility too.

also the key is buying in bulk, which gets you some fancy cuts but also a bunch of lesser known cuts and roasts (which normally don't sell and just get turned into ground chuck by factory farms), plus a lot of ground beef.