Deal Breakdown: Omaha Steaks’ Grand Pack

In my write-up of the 69 cent headphones, I mentioned OmahaSteaks.com and the reservations I had about ordering raw meat for delivery. It’s not just my fear that the package will get rerouted to some isolated FedEx warehouse and show up at my door a month later filled with rotten meat, it’s also the price. Omaha Steak’s “Private Reserve” Filet Mignon will run you $38 a pound (that’s marked down from $60 a pound) and even their boneless chicken breasts cost upwards of $20 a pound. That’s an awful lot of money to pay for frozen meat.

Still, the deal currently featured on the front page of OmahaSteaks.com caught my eye: the “Grand Pack,” featuring an assortment of steaks, gourmet hot dogs and other meats, for $80 (with free shipping). Tempting, but how much are you really saving here compared to what you would spend if you bought all this stuff a la carte? And more importantly, how does this deal stack up to the high-end meat you might buy at, say, your local Whole Foods?

First things first. Here is what you get in the Omaha Steaks package, along with the per-pound cost of each item if you were to purchase it separately.

Two (5 oz.) Filet Mignons ($30/pound separately [though you have to buy eight 4 oz. filets to get this price])
Two (6 oz.) Top Sirloins ($34.66/pound separately)
Eight (3 oz.) Gourmet Franks ($9.99 for a pack of 8)
Four (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops ($27 separately)
Four (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers ($14.67/pound separately)
Four (4 oz. approx.) Boneless Chicken Breasts ($24 separately)
Four (5.75 oz.) Stuffed Baked Potatoes ($13 for 8 potatoes separately)

Here’s where the math gets tricky (especially for someone like me, who finds all math pretty tricky): in many cases the actual quantity of meat contained in the package isn’t available separately. For instance, the package has two (6 oz.) top sirloins, but the closest quantity I could find on the site is four (6 oz.) top sirloins, which retail for $51.99. In these cases, I’ve just calculated the per-pound cost, and will use that to determine the actual value of each item.

When you add it all up, the total value of the merchandise is around $127, so you’re saving close to $50 by buying the Grand Pack. And it ships for free, since Omaha Steaks is currently offering free shipping on all orders over $79.