Steak Gift Box Delivery for Christmas: When to Order, When to Switch
Steak gift box delivery for Christmas, from the farm that packs them: order early, ship close to home, and when to give a gift card.
On a cattle farm, Christmas starts in the summer.
Asked when Christmas actually starts at Shipley Farms, Gray Shipley said:
“Our Christmas starts typically in July or August, and the reason for that is big part of our retail business is our Christmas gift boxes.”
Gray Shipley
Word for word, as recorded
Our christmas starts typically in july or august and the reason for that is big part of our retail business is our christmas gift boxes.
The boxes are designed and priced by early August, because the bigger orders start coming in from September. The hard part is that nobody knows in August exactly what will be in the freezer in December.
“What we can sell depends on what comes, what the animal gives us, and what's, you know, sold and what's not sold.”
Gray Shipley
Word for word, as recorded
What we can sell depends on what comes what the animal gives us and what's you know sold and what's not sold.
Ribeyes, strips, filets and prime rib always sell at Christmas. The steaks and sausages around them are chosen from what the farm actually has.
When to order a steak gift box for Christmas
Early. Shipping starts the first Monday after Thanksgiving, and the farm tries to get as much as it can out in early December, while the carriers are still keeping up.
- Order ahead and your box can go out in the first wave, starting the Monday after Thanksgiving.
- Early December is still a good time to ship.
- Close to home ships best. Inside North Carolina, one-day ground means a box that is held up a day or two still arrives in good shape.
- The last two weeks before Christmas are the riskiest time to ship anything perishable, because the carriers are overloaded.
By the last week, Gray says, the farm is racing the calendar.
“And so it's a mad scramble to get the last boxes out that have to go out before Christmas.”
Gray Shipley
Word for word, as recorded
And so it's a mad scramble to get the last boxes out that have to go out before christmas.
What happens on shipping day
The busiest day of the year is the first shipping day. Asked what happens on it, he listed what has to go right for every box:
“And so the packing, the labeling, the dry ice, the coordination, the taping boxes up, the making sure the right gift cards and Christmas cards and messages and addresses and everything gets done right.”
Gray Shipley
Word for word, as recorded
And so the packing the labeling the dry ice the coordination the taping boxes up the making sure the right gift cards and christmas cards and messages and addresses and everything gets done right.
Boxes go out frozen and packed with dry ice. When yours arrives, open it the same day and put everything straight into the freezer, or into the refrigerator if you will cook it within a few days. Never touch dry ice with bare hands, and let it disappear in a spot with fresh air.
Too close to Christmas? Give a gift card
Asked what people order at the last minute, Gray said it is usually for one person.
“So the steak box for Dad, I think, is probably the most common last minute gift, and we try to steer folks towards gift cards when it gets too close to Christmas.”
Gray Shipley
Word for word, as recorded
So the steak box for dad i think is probably the most common last minute gift and uh we try to steer folks towards gift cards when it gets too close to christmas.
A Shipley Farms gift card lets them choose the steaks themselves and pick a week in January when they know they will be home, after the carriers have caught up. If you are near Vilas, you can also come to the farm store and take a box home yourself.
Steaks from the farm, packed frozen and shipped with dry ice.
View Product
A dry-aged standing rib roast for the center of the meal.
View ProductWritten at Shipley Farms in Vilas, North Carolina: a family cattle farm raising and dry-aging beef in the Appalachian Mountains, now in its fifth generation. No shortcuts since 1872.
Every quote on this page is Gray Shipley talking, the man who runs this farm. He recorded these answers himself, at the farm, in the autumn of 2026. The play button under each quote is that recording, exactly as he said it, and the words under it are a word-for-word transcript. In the written quotes, hesitations are trimmed so they read on the page. Nothing else is added or reworded, except where Gray revised his own words in review.
Reviewed 9 November 2026.
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