Military veteran turns to farming, tallow skincare line as part of healing journey

Robert Tanner shows off a skincare product from his line, Flock and Tallow. (Emma Convey/CTV News Atlantic)

A retired Nova Scotia military veteran who used beef tallow as part of his healing journey has now built a skincare line with the trendy animal fat.

Robert Tanner was in the Navy for 15 years. He took part in various deployments around the world, operating as a boarding party and tactical boat driver.

In 2017, he suffered a spinal cord injury, which left him semi-paralyzed for a while. This brought on early retirement and, during his healing journey, he turned to nature.

“I spent years in physio and surgeries, and I just found getting the body in homeostasis will help it heal better,” says Tanner.

For years he dreamed of having a small farm where he could raise his own food and products – a dream that became a reality during his recovery.

Tanner moved from the city to Upper Rawdon, N.S., and built a small farm from scratch, complete with turkeys, chickens, sheep, and goats.

“I can only really do two things because if you do too much you get too overwhelmed easily, so I just focus on farming sheep and making tallow products,” says Tanner.

He created Flock and Tallow, a skincare company centered around Nova Scotia beef tallow.

“Tallow is any rendered fat from an animal, so the most popular is beef fat,” explains Tanner. “It matches the fatty profile of your skin, it’s going to absorb deep, not clog your pores and help with any skin conditions.”

Tanner originally started with beard balms, but found they didn’t sell, so he transitioned to making a skincare line.

“I do soap, lip balms and tallow bombs and whipped,” says Tanner.

The two main ingredients he uses are gathered locally, from Nova Scotia cattle and Nova Scotia beeswax. He also uses olive oil and coconut oil, all natural products.

“I render and purify it myself. I will mix it with other carrier oils and beeswax, melt it all down and mix, pour it and it cures and then I package it and sell it,” says Tanner.

One of his goals with this business is to help people heal.

“A lot of people don’t want to hear about my health advice, but this is a good introduction to help people with their healing process,” says Tanner.

The business is in its third year and this year it’s taken off. He is taking part in 70 events in 2026.

“I was about half in some markets and retail in the past two years and this year I have blown up. You can find me at the Halifax Brewery Market every Saturday and I do a lot of other events; retail spots are opening up and online stores,” says Tanner.

With hopes of growing his tallow business, Tanner has acquired more land and eventually wants to build a new facility at his farm.

“I have really been putting the sheep on the back burner for a bit while I grow the tallow business, and when that’s where I want it, my goal is to grow that and get a bigger business facility and then grow the sheep flock and those go hand in hand,” says Tanner.

His products are available in some local stores and markets and also online.

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