MEAT+POULTRY Podcast MEAT+POULTRY

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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.  






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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. 

 




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