Business & Tech
Juicy Holiday Profits for Freedom Meat Lockers
An inside look at Freedom's meat and sausage company.
The holiday season was good to this year. The family-owned butcher shop shipped packages to over 500 different addresses across the nation, and kept up local business as well.
"Its funny we actually have customers from all over that moved from Watsonville, and then they expose their friends to us and I get calls from them. It's pretty neat how different people learn about us," said Sarah Lewis, shipping coordinator and daughter of the owner, Howard Walker.
On a local level, people sought out around 500 prime ribs, 600 hams, 400 smoked turkeys and 300 gift boxes over the holidays, according to Lewis.
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This year's winning item were their smoked hams, which won Best in the Nation and Best in the State by the American Association of Meat Processors and the California Association of Meat Processors respectively.
Jeff Bassmann uses hickory wood chips to smoke the meats, and says his favorite item to make are the sausages, which are also a best-seller. Bassmann has worked for the company for 14 years.
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Lewis's grandfather opened Freedom Meat Lockers in 1974, and since then they have drummed up quite a following. They sell "Choice" or higher-graded meats, which is one of the reasons why manager Will Panis says people notice a difference in their meat and come back.
"It's just so much more tender and full of flavor, people don't really realize how the quality of meat effects the taste until they try it," said Panis. "We have to keep with the top quality meat otherwise people wouldn't make the extra stop on their way back from Safeway to get their meat from us."
The industry categorizes its meat into four grades, starting with the highest quality "Prime," then "Choice," "Select" and "No Roll." Most supermarkets sell Select and No Roll grade meat.
The marinated meats are a popular choice for people looking for an easy dinner, since the meat is already prepared and ready to go on the grill. Wine and spice, barbecue, spicy mesquite, whiskey pepper, Asian sensation, and Italian are some of the marinades used.
"A lot of people outside of California don't even know what skirt steak tastes like because it gets turned into ground beef in other states."
