Business Plan for a New Small USDA Inspected Meat Processing Plant to Serve Local Livestock Producers May 2011. Prepared by Keith DeHaan, Food and Livestock Planning, and funded by USDA Rural Development, for the South Coast Meat Project. Includes financials. Table of Contents Plan Summary Download full plan (pdf, 34 pages, 280KB) Table of Contents Executive […]
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Business Plan for a Producer-Owned Meat Marketing Company April 2011. Prepared by Keith DeHaan, Food and Livestock Planning, and funded by USDA Rural Development, for the South Coast Meat Project. Includes financials. Table of Contents Plan Summary Download full plan (pdf, 41 pages, 310KB) Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction Market Plan Market Development Target
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What’s Here? Every business needs a plan, and a good model can help you write yours. In this set of pages, you’ll find business plans for a small, USDA-inspected meat processing plant and linked meat marketing company, including a multi-part business and marketing analysis. The plans describe a plant that provides fee-based meat processing services
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The “lip” which is on or off is an extra piece of muscle. Typically, “lip on” is cheaper by the pound, because it hasn’t been trimmed enough and is considered lower quality than “lip off.”
What do “lip on” and “lip off” mean for buying rib eye steaks? Read More »
A custom slaughter facility is a slaughter facility that does not have a state or federal inspector on duty, which means that the meats from these facilities are not considered state- or federally-inspected meats. These establishments ARE regularly inspected (by the state) for overall sanitation, but the animals themselves are not inspected for disease. Custom
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Yes, many farmers sell meats directly off their farm. These meats are still required to be processed in a state– or federally-inspected facility and must be labeled properly just as if you were selling the meats any where else. It is also a good idea to recommend that customers bring their own coolers to transport
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Yes, you may sell meats at a farmers market, if the market rules allow it. Tell the Market Manager you want to start selling meats, and ask what kind of storage is required by market rules. Most of the time, chest coolers are acceptable, however some markets require that you store meats in a small
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Most farmers transport their frozen meats in chest coolers. Again alternative refrigeration such as ice packs, etc. are highly recommended. The chest coolers must be clean along with the transport vehicle. The inspector at the slaughtering facility may inspect the transport vehicle and chest coolers. Unacceptable findings could result in the inspector not allowing the
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You can ship or mail meats out of the state if your meats are processed in a federally-inspected plant. You cannot ship or mail meats outside the state if your meats are processed at a state-inspected facility. Frozen meats can be safely shipped by US Mail, UPS, FedEx and other private carriers by using overnight
Can I ship meats? How? Where can I find packing materials to ship meats? Read More »
Yes, legally speaking, “natural” on a meat label only refers to how the meat is processed, not to how the animal was raised. However, some meat companies — starting with Mel Coleman decades ago — have used “natural” to signal that no antibiotics or hormones were administered to the animal during its lifetime (though some
