MEAT+POULTRY Podcast

Mark Bianchetti, president of the People’s Choice Beef Jerky has seen the California-based business and the area around it change throughout his life. Nestled in the heart of downtown Los Angeles’ fashion district, People’s Choice has been a player in the specialty meat snacks industry for nearly a century. Continually expanding its presence, not only on the west coast but beyond, the company continues to work on growth and change in the snack space. In this episode of the MEAT+POULTRY podcast, Bianchetti shares his journey in leading the business, alongside his son Brian, and daughter, Sara, as he prepares to pass the torch to the next generation to take the family operation into the future. With a commitment to honoring its roots, People’s Choice is also unafraid to explore new flavors and ideas suggested by its customers. An example of that innovative approach is the development of a new product, Jerky Crisps, which creatively combines a chip-like product in a thin piece of meat.

Over the last few years, Chomps has grown into a steady player in the meat snack space. One of the critical components of the brand’s success is the attention to detail in operations and finding the right partners to produce a quality product. For this episode of the MEAT+POULTRY podcast, we talk with Rashid Ali, co-chief executive officer and Zach Meyer, senior director of operations. During this discussion, Ali describes what it’s been like to watch Chomps grow and succeed with his co-founder Pete Maldonado. Meyer and Ali examine how the company determines the necessary elements to build new meat snacks and maintain the original ones. Rashid discusses how this e-commerce first company also picked the proper retail locations to grow its consumer base and create a new sales channel for Chomps.

Mike Drury remains focused and prepared to guide Greater Omaha Packing into its next chapters of meat processing. The president of Greater Omaha Packing Co. recently discussed with the MEAT+POULTRY podcast how the company would use a $20 million USDA grant through the Meat and Poultry Expansion Program (MPPEP). Drury stated how important the company’s location in Omaha, Neb., is for the success of its business as it fulfills orders for customers in the United States and around the world. Drury also shared how Greater Omaha Packing has adapted and helped its clients with any situation in the meat marketplace since the pandemic began. Drury expressed the importance of having more dialogue with cattle suppliers and even invited them to the headquarters recently to see the medium-sized business’s operation in action. Near the end of the podcast, Drury highlighted how Greater Omaha works with all its workforce to create a quality product. More information on Greater Omaha Packing’s recent upgrades can be found here.

Sterling “Big Poppa” Ball always wants to push the level of barbecue flavors and tastes for people. The hall-of-fame pitmaster, who runs Big Poppa Smokers in California, recently chatted with MEAT+POULTRY to discuss what he’s seen on the barbecue landscape over the last few years and how his company teaches and promotes the art of low and slow cooking. The conversation starts with Ball explaining how his first business, Ernie Ball, a well-known guitar and strings company, helped inform what he tries to do with barbecue daily. Ball then describes what he enjoys about the process of grilling. Later on, he discusses his partnerships with foodservice companies and working with Tyson Foods’ Chairman’s Reserve Meats brand when coming up with new recipes and items. Ball also conveys what he looks for when shopping for meat at the grocery store or at the butcher counter.

In early 2022, MEAT+POULTRY published a story about three entrepreneurs who seized the opportunity to capitalize on America’s love for bacon. Elisa Lewis, her husband Camilo Velasquez and the couple’s friend and business partner, Dana Young, had a great run as co-owners of The Baconer, an Emeryville, Calif.-based premium bacon company. After its founding in 2016, the entrepreneurs saw exponential growth, thanks to the development of a high-quality product line, partnerships with key retailers and a brand-building campaign that garnered the company exposure on multiple mainstream media platforms. And then, just when The Baconer was about to go to the next level in 2022, an unforeseen perfect storm of challenges, including global inflation, supply-chain interruptions and overall volatility in the marketplace, forced the team to make the very difficult decision of closing down the company. In this week’s MEAT+POULTRY podcast, Velasquez and Lewis recount the eventful journey of their business, which started as more of a dinner club and social event when the couple lived on the East Coast. The co-founders gave details of how the team built the brand of The Baconer, shedding light on what business strategies worked well and detailing some of the challenges along the way, including how the team decided it was time to pull the plug. Looking back, Lewis said she wished they would have had the opportunity to learn from other start-up operators about how to avoid common pitfalls and how to make the most of opportunities as their bootstrapped company flourished. When discussing their experience, they admit there were some things they would have done differently but also acknowledged the many successes along the way. The retrospective journey of Velasquez, Lewis and Young provides a rare opportunity for operators of other food companies to learn from the experience of The Baconer’s stakeholders and apply some of those lessons to their business strategy.  

Mike Sloan, owner of Fulton and Herman Wurst Haus wants to give people hands-on experiences in the meat industry. He continues to develop sausage-making classes at his Hermann location and a new location in Fulton, Mo. That’s one of the reasons Sloan was the subject of this episode of the MEAT+POULTRY podcast.   Sloan describes what it’s been like taking on a second location and why he felt like it was the right time. During the interview, he discusses how he will bring on an established ⁠meat processor in Fulton⁠.   Next, Sloan explains how Hermann Wurst Haus works with the rest of the local wine tourism in Hermann and how his meat business fits into that.    Later, Mike explains how he builds an in-store experience that catches the eye of the customer that steps into the Wurst Haus so they will stick around and learn more about meat in Missouri.   Sloan and the rest of the team also received 21 awards at the annual Hermann Wurstfest Competition at the ⁠end of March⁠.   

MEAT+POULTRYcaught up with Jeff Tripician, chief executive officer of Grass Fed Foods while attending the Annual Meat Conference held in Dallas, Texas, in March. The newly formed company was featured in the January issue of MEAT+POULTRY magazine. During this discussion, Tripician describes the first few months of Grass Fed Foods and how the company has responded to the growing grass-fed market. He shared some new programs Grass Fed Foods plans to roll out, including Teton Taste Buds and a foodservice partnership with Rastelli Foods Group. Tripician discusses some early successes and what it’s been like building out both brands under Grass Fed Foods: Teton Waters Ranch and SunFed Ranch. In closing, Tripician gives his thoughts on the conference along with what he saw as big takeaways from presentations like the 2023 Power of Meat.

The Irish Food Board, Bord Bia, recently kicked off its new campaign to bring more European beef and lamb into the United States. As promotional events and campaigns recently began in New York City, MEAT+POULTRY caught up with Henry Horkan, Bord Bia’s director of North America. Horkan shares the history of Irish cattle and how it’s grown into an important industry for Ireland. He then details the significance of the American market in this push to give consumers an international option. Horkan also explains the timeline for a three-year campaign and how it will help Bord Bia with its marketing to the United States. Horkan then discusses his career with Bord Bia and what other markets the organization plans to work with around the world as it grows. Five years ago, MEAT+POULTRY managing editor Erica Shaffer traveled to Ireland and detailed the grass-fed beef production, national traceability and sustainability programs in the country.

Earlier in 2022, Wholesome Foods Inc., in Shenandoah County, Va., was among the small to medium meat distributors who announced expansions to their slaughter facility and capacity. After hearing the news of the $1.2 million investment to upgrade operations, MEAT+POULTRY reached out to Wholesome for some insights on the new venture. For this podcast episode, MEAT+POULTRY talked about the expanded company portfolio with Wes Pence, president of Wholesome Foods. Pence describes what it took to partner with the county through Virginia’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) program to get support for expanding meat processing in their community. Throughout the podcast, Pence also touches on how the business works as a full-scale food distributor but also provides energy, transportation and logistics for people in the area. Read more about the Wholesome Foods expansion here.

An Iowa-based startup is providing a different outlet for farmers and producers in Iowa and the rest of the country. Chop Local strives to be the online marketplace to connect small businesses with customers providing high quality meat. This episode of the MEAT+POULTRY podcast focuses on the Iowa-based company’s business strategy from the point of view of Mark Putney, director of business development. Putney explains the benefits of the platform for producers and how it can be a year-round outlet for them to sell their meat. He describes working with customers and farmers to ensure Chop Local to provide meat to consumers who value locally produced products. Putney lays out the 2023 strategy for Chop Local and how it hopes to grow around its headquarters in Iowa and other states and businesses with USDA inspection. He also explains what Chop Local hopes to accomplish in 2023 and its plans for growing the platform across rural communities in the United States.