ZEPHYR – “Your way is our way.”

That’s the slogan of Local Cuts Meat Co., a 12,000 square foot federal USDA facility located at 3024 FM 1467 South in Zephyr that is set to open in August and offer high-quality, local meats for producers, ranchers, retailers and consumers.

“We’re here to make it easy,” said Mike Crawford, president of Local Cuts Meat Co. “We want it to be easy for ranchers and producers to grow their business. We want to make it easy for retailers and butcher shops and even distributors to get access to local meat. We want to make it easy for restaurants to have good, quality meat cuts. And then we want to make it easy for individuals to bring cows in for their own consumption. We want to make it easy for everyone to come to our retail shop and buy fresher frozen meat. We have fresh meat, frozen meat, it can be customized, whatever you’re looking for, we’ll be able to provide that.”

Crawford, who has owned a ranch in the Zephyr area for several years, stated the reason behind the idea came from the beef shortage a year ago that accompanied the pandemic.

“If you go back and look now over a year ago, when we went through the pandemic, it caused a tremendous amount of capacity problem, there was no meat in the stores,” Crawford said. “Even as a producer, because I have a private brand of beef where we sell grass-fed beef, I was experiencing the same problem as the consumer. It’s almost take it or leave it. I looked at that and saw an opportunity, I think people really want to get local beef. It’s important people get good, quality meat, they can get it local, and we can help ranchers and producers grow their business, keep it here, and bring local employment here to the community which I think is a win-win situation.”

Local Cuts Meat Co. will not only process beef but pork, sheep, goats, deer and exotic game as well.

Along with Crawford, Heath Mayes and Cindy Mayes – formerly of M & M Deer Processing – as well as Wayne Clark and Pam Watkins – are members of the Local Cuts Meat Co. team.

Regarding the decision to open the facility in Zephyr, Crawford said, “We have great talent like Heath, Cindy and Wayne, who are local to the community and can really add value. With the technology that’s available today you can come out in a rural setting and give people full-time jobs, and we’re really interested in making sure there are benefits that come with that, and give an opportunity for people to excel. I have a great sense of keeping things local. I like to eat what I know as opposed to getting it from a large processing center where they import that beef from other countries. It’s a win-win situation for everybody. That was my impetus. There are great people here, food producers and ranchers here that are raising quality beef and are having to take them to the local sale barn and just break even. In my heart of hearts, I felt that’s just not right, that’s not the Texas way. The Texas way is let all boats rise, everything rises to the top.”

Crawford stated Local Cuts Meat Co. will initially employee 10 people, with the opportunity to employee up to 30 in the future.

Among the highlights of the facility is drive through access for those dropping off their animals.

“When someone is coming in to drop off their cows, or even big semis coming in, we’ve made it so they can drive through,” Crawford said. “There won’t be any backing up, we’re going to make it easy so they can drop it off. For those who need to drop it off earlier, we can yard them, we’ve got over 37 acres, so we’re going to have pens for extended stays if they need to bring them in a few days early. We can make that happen.”

Local Cuts Meat Co. also stresses efficiency with a rail system in its cooler that allows up to 300 head to hang at one time.

Safety is also vital to the Local Cuts Meat Co.

“We have different rooms – set up with safety being extremely important – and we’ll have people in the medium care facility, and in the high care faculty where they cut it up,” Crawford said. “They will have lunch rooms, lockers, and their own wash rooms. You can wash your hands, we’ll have smocks, aprons, hair nets, hard hats. This won’t be a place where you can just walk in and work in street clothes.”

Each animal will also be tracked from the time it is brought in until it leaves the facility.

“We’re using the latest technology so from the time they are unloaded they are identified and can be traced all the way through so the customer, whether you’re consuming personally or reselling it, you’ll know exactly what you’ve received per animal,” Crawford said. “Each animal will be identified separately and can be traced, which is so much different from very large facilities.”

A soft opening is played for the first week of August with the business getting up to full steam later in the month. Local Cuts Meat Co. is currently accepting $100 deposits to schedule dates to bring in animals. Local Cuts Meat Co. is also seeking employees and the company can be contacted through its website, www.localcuts.com.