Five Marys Custom Meat Co.

Our dream of building Five Marys Custom Meat Co. has been growing since we started sharing our meats with you 6 years ago…

To have a USDA certified facility where we can harvest the meats we raised ourselves with the same care and attention we give to every other step involved with raising our animals right. To go to great lengths to make sure every animal is harvested humanely and with the utmost care. To be able to produce a truly craft product with an extended dry-age in first class dry-aging rooms with custom systems and equipment. To have our own craft butchers cutting meat the old-fashioned way and packing each cut with care and attention and beautiful labels, knowing it’s going directly to your family and your table.

The path to get this far has been no easy task. It’s been four years of research and drawings and equipment searches and talking to every person possible who knows a lot more about butchery and facilities like this than we do. We want to do this right, and there are so many pieces that have to fit together perfectly for an efficient, USDA inspected, quality facility… from the animal handling barns, to harvesting, to coolers, to rail systems, to smokers, and all of the other equipment every step of the way. Brian has been working so hard on this for years and we consistently continued to refine the last details in our designs and engineering before we were able to break ground.

Independent meat processors are a casualty of the centralization of the meat business. What used to be done in small towns across America is now limited to very few places. It’s common for farmers to drive 2-8 hours for a butcher and they can book out very far in advance. There just aren’t enough facilities to keep up with the ever growing demand from consumers who want to know where their food comes from and purchase directly from a farmer.

In most cases, USDA regulations require any animals that are sold to consumers to be harvested and butchered under their inspection. This is intended to protect the safety of our meat supply and isn’t necessarily a bad thing (avoiding cross-contamination, ensuring correct temperatures, monitoring operations, etc.) for producers or consumers. This is tricky business and as to be done well. With that said, we need to get back to a little more old school style butchery availability to make sure small farms and ranches can harvest safely, humanely, and get their products right to their customers!

We are bringing back the small town butchery. We will do all of our own meat and be able to process other local ranches as well. This will also allow us to provide even more products and custom cuts for our customers, enhance our extended dry-aging (a first rate feature of our facility design!) so that WE can always get our premium products directly to your table. It has not been an easy road, but like we say all of the time – “Nothing is easy, but it will be worth it!”

This has been our biggest undertaking that Brian and I have ever done to date – and the longest years of dreaming, planning, engineering, and getting to this point. It makes me so happy to see him in his element walking the rooms and seeing it actually becoming a reality. Larry (A.K.A Uncle Larry) our design specialist and Brian have put so much time and thought into every detail to help us provide our customers with the best product possible in a first rate butchery.

Here’s to big dreams and making them happen! I’m so lucky to have Brian by my side for all of this, and four girls who are right there with us excited about the future of Five Marys as we build this together. I’ll be back soon with more Meat Co. updates!