Nebraska cattle family builds a nationwide beef brand in the Amazon store

Fifty-two thousand head of cattle fill the Klute family’s feed yard in Holdrege, Nebraska. It is one of the larger operations in the region, and for decades, cattle was the only business. The family raised it, fed it, and sold it to processors who put their own labels on it. Today, the feed yard is still full. But Amazon gave the Klutes the tools to do more with what they raise, to sell directly to customers, to test new products, and to build a brand of their own. Nebraska Star Beef now ships aged steaks, beef jerky, and hand-built seasoning kits to customers in all 50 states.

A family that knows cattle found a partner that knows customers

Kayla (Klute) Pfister runs the Amazon side of the business. She grew up working cattle, processing and receiving livestock at the feed yard since she was 15. Now she manages listings, optimizes ad spend, and builds product pages for a company her family launched in 2011 after years of supplying natural beef to Whole Foods.

“We decided, why don’t we give that a try and see if we can do the same thing they’re doing?” Kayla recalled. “We know cattle inside and out.”

“It didn’t take long to realize wholesale wasn’t the answer,” Kayla said of selling wholesale cuts to retailers. “That space is completely saturated by the major producers.” So, they pivoted. They aged their beef 35 days, cut it into steaks, and started shipping directly to customers. Sales were slow. The learning curve was steep. But the family kept trying new things. They added beef jerky, then beef sticks, then DIY seasoning kits. Each new product was a bet the family was willing to make.

“You don’t know unless you try,” Kayla said. “That’s just how we grew up.”

That same instinct led them to the Amazon store in 2013. They listed their seasonings, learned how the store worked, and kept experimenting. They added A+ Content, which lets sellers build rich product detail pages with images, comparison charts, and brand storytelling that help customers understand what they’re buying. They tested Amazon Ads, which places their products in front of shoppers actively searching for items like theirs. They enrolled in Subscribe & Save, a program that lets customers set up recurring deliveries at a discount, turning one-time buyers into repeat customers. Each lever they pulled unlocked new growth. Amazon sales grew by $200,000 from 2024 to 2025.

From Holdrege to every state in the country

Nebraska Star Beef sells two very different kinds of products in the Amazon store. Their aged steaks are frozen, perishable, and shipped on dry ice. The family chooses Fulfilled by Merchant, shipping from their own warehouse via FedEx and UPS, which pick up daily. Their seasoning kits are shelf-stable, lightweight, and built for a longer window. The family designed them the Amazon store in mind. For years, the Klutes fulfilled those kits themselves, packing and shipping from Holdrege. When they chose to use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for the seasoning line in 2025, they were placing another bet. FBA stores, picks, packs, and ships their products and handles customer service and returns. The family still builds every kit by hand, stocking up during the slower months so inventory is ready when the busy season in October hits. But once those kits leave Holdrege, Amazon handles the rest.

Seasoning revenue doubled that first year, jumping from $187,000 to $365,000 with FBA. Customers who might have hesitated at a longer shipping window were now ordering with next-day delivery confidence. The family had found the right tool for the right product.

“Getting it into FBA was a game changer,” Kayla said. “I wish we had done it sooner.”

Today, Nebraska Star Beef is a $2.9 million business. Amazon is their single largest sales channel at $800,000 and growing.

Growing the business and giving back to Holdrege

That original spirit of trying new things hasn’t slowed down. The Klute family is preparing to launch a new line of DIY Meat Processing Kits via FBA and plans to use the  Amazon Vine program, which connects new products with customers early, inviting reviews and building credibility. “It’s just what you do in our family,” Kayla said. “This is our baby, so we take it and run with it and see what doors open by trying different things.”
When Kayla says, “family business,” she means it literally. She works alongside her parents, her cousin Steve, four brothers, two sisters-in-law, and an uncle who handles sales. “There’s only two people that work in our office that aren’t related to us,” she said. The family gives back locally, selling ground beef to area schools for farm-to-table programs and donating steaks and beef bundles for events like Roll n’ Ride for Make-A-Wish, the Lexington Community Foundation, and the Overton Community Foundation.
The Klute family is among the independent sellers in Nebraska who collectively sold more than 14 million items in Amazon’s store last year, averaging more than $910,000 in annual sales per seller, according to Amazon’s 2025 Small Business Empowerment Report. Independent sellers make up more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store, most of them small and medium-sized businesses.

“Our business wouldn’t be where it’s at today without the Amazon store,” Kayla said. “Amazon has opened up so many doors for our business.”