The Cut Meat Market, a state of the art facility, opens in Sanborn
A new business is about to open in Sanborn that will benefit consumers looking for high quality meats at bargain prices and also those who want the best opportunity to market the livestock they raise.
The Cut Meat Market is located at 509 Profit Street on the east end of town. Their hours will be weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Cut can be reached by calling 712-930-MEAT or by emailing them at thecutmeatmarket@gmail.com
Kent Douma is the owner of the modern facility. It is being managed by his son, Keegan, who explained what the business has to offer. “We will offer a retail meat store where customers can purchase all kinds of different products, not just limited to meat,” he explained. “We will also feature products such as twice baked potatoes, potato and pasta salads, and other products people will have to check out for themselves. We will also offer custom slaughter.”
The employees possess a familiarity with this type of business. “We will have four full time employees, all of which have had experience in and around the meat industry for several years,” said Keegan. “Our head butcher, Luke Harmes, comes to us with 24-25 years of meat cutting experience, as well as receiving the Reserve Grand Champion award for his bacon in a statewide competition put on by the Iowa Meat Producers Association.”
Keegan also mentioned what is required of a meat cutter, something the general public may not have given thought to. “The amount of information and knowledge an individual has to have to be a great meat cutter is so much greater than many people think,” he stated. “Knowing all of the different cuts, what they look like, and where they are located on an animal takes a tremendous amount of repetition.”
The Cut Meat Market is an outgrowth of the Douma family’s experiences as cattle producers. “Our initial vision came to us after we realized the prices we were receiving for our own cattle when we were selling them and putting that against the prices that we see everyday in stores,” shared Keegan. “We knew that there had to be a way to make meat more affordable for the consumer, as well as make a better profit off the cattle that we had put so much time into raising. After doing a lot of research and getting in touch with countless people, we came to the conclusion that this was a feasible idea and we decided to go for it.” He added, “The road to opening has not been an easy one, but nonetheless we have made it happen.”
The Pioneer let Keegan have the floor to share with the public more about the business. “I think an important thing to highlight to many people is that we will be a federal meat processing plant, meaning an animal that we butcher for a customer has the ability to be resold,” he said. This is unlike many other lockers in the area and something that really sets us apart.
“Another very important thing to highlight is that we will be selling our own locally grown beef and locally sourced pork in our retail store. The customer today values knowing where their food came from and that is also a value that we hold. Customers can expect meat to be cheaper than that of meat located in the grocery stores and other meat markets, as well as rivaling and in many cases exceeding the quality as well.
“The last service I would like to highlight is our ability to provide the customer with the option of buying quarters, halves, or full beef and pork carcasses. Thanks to our relationships with many local producers, we will be able to help find meat for customers, and help find buyers for producers looking to sell their meat.”
Finally, there are several more things that the manager of The Cut Meat Market wants to point out. “I think it’s important to note that even though we are a brand new, state of the art facility, our prices for custom slaughter will be no higher than that of other lockers,” said Keegan. “We invite producers to stop in and tour our plant and see the process from top to bottom. Our goal with this business is to provide a high quality product that will not break the bank for our customers. We hope that The Cut encourages everyone to shop local and keep businesses in our local community thriving.”