Seven inches of pure white blanket fell again last night. My early morning trek to the bunkhouse told the tale through signature tracks of nighttime visitations: whitetail deer sneak over fencelines at night and eat hay with our beeves, and black-tailed jacks and cottontails raid the haystacks. It’s the eagles that work the top of the food chain pretty hard on these mornings, as it is hard for bunnies to hide on the unblemished white. I noted two bald eagles and two goldens who made an easy January feast out of several bunnies caught unawares by silent death from above.
Snow accumulated on the insulated backs of the cattle and horses as well. They seem oblivious to it; perhaps the snow coat adds an additional layer of insulation. The occasional magpie lights upon their snow clad backsides, hoping to harvest a little equine heat, or maybe just a better view. Beyond them, the mountains are a brilliant blanca today as they are getting pounded with snow measured in feet, not inches from an El Nino flow that carries South Pacific moisture to Northern Rockies peaks. It bodes well for Alderspring, as the ranges should be extra productive this coming summer with the abundant winter moisture.
The peaceful rhythms of winter life on the ranch made for a welcome respite from the stresses abounding this week with the business of beef. After some 11 years our processor packed the last packages of Alderspring goodness that they were to pack. I gave them notice just yesterday that we would leave them for another USDA organic facility. It is a huge amount of logistics to pull off; most of it has fallen in place already, but there are many loose ends to tie up yet. It is about scheduling semis to pick up a pallet or two of our product to haul to stores; getting our fresh product back to the ranch for the webstore, and timing of processing that aligns with a new processor’s own limitations and schedules.
The first question folks pose when they find out about our change is “Why?” I’m sure the same is on many of your minds as well. “Vision” is the best word that I can use to describe it. In our closeout conversation I told the former plant manager that I bear them no malice in my decision, and in fact that I really have a great relationship with him and his family/owners (most of them work there). I told him that we are really like apples and oranges—they are both fruit, but on completely different taste, texture and flavor spectrums. I said the bottom line is that even though I have tried for years, I cannot get the vision of my clientele into their minds—or in the minds of their employees.
Our cut specifications are very exacting: thickness of steaks, level of fat in the ground beef, roast size. But because different butchers cut my beef every week, I would get slightly (or sometimes very) different versions of my specifications. I told him that Alderspring’s clientele—or partners, as we call them—are very discriminating. They have chosen us over other beef purveyors for our attributes of wild grass-fed organic wellness, flavor and texture that consistently are represented in our beef. So if my processor changes something and I receive a product that is packed differently, or perhaps processed differently (like a batch of ground beef I received that had been ground with a finer plate than my usual grind), our long-term partners, our customers, wonder if the change is caused by something they should be concerned about. Other problems made my job harder. Sometimes a failure to follow the cut specifications exactly meant I had a package that didn’t meet my description in webstore, and I would either have to make a new “product” in the webstore, or send the cut with an explanation to a customer.
None of these problems compromised safety of the beef. The plant was clean and the USDA inspectors attentive. The processor also processed our beef humanely, which is our first requirement. My issues with them were about the consistency of cutting and packaging. The reason why many of you, our partners, have not known of any problems is because I personally sort the beef that enters your white box. But I would sometimes miss things, and you would, for example, get a set of ground beef with a different grind than you were used to, or a package that was slightly compromised in its vacuum seal.
Have you noticed that Caryl and I have our names on every package? It is like we have personally signed every one of them. The reason we did that is because those cuts of meat actually go through our hands on the way to you. We’ve thought about hiring fulfillment companies like most of our competitors do, but my concern is that despite systematized protocols, no line employee can possibly assimilate our knowledge of beef and cut design, and will never be able to make the right call”¦every time.
It has to do with not only respect for you and the trust you have given us to provide you with excellent wild foods, but even more, a respect for each and every animal that resided on Alderspring. After all, it is they who have forged that connection with the wild landscape, exchanging nutrients for energy and protein in ways we are still understanding. We owe it to them to ensure that the beef they provide is crafted with the utmost of care, and is always the best.
Two days of rigorous questions have convinced us that our new processor is willing to capture that vision, both in terms of your welfare and that of our beeves. They are small (9 employees, including part time), and as a result, accountable. They are knowledgeable and experienced. In my first set of questions, I spoke to Amber. I asked her how much employee turnover they had (my former plant had nearly 25% every year). She paused, as if not knowing what that meant. It was one of the flaws of the former processor, as new employees often could be directly blamed for ruining our Alderspring beef.
“Well, we did lose one a few months ago. She had to go on medical leave after 19 years.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, no. There is one other place we lose someone now and then. We do have to hire a new cleaning man every year or so. They get burned out. It is a lot of work.”
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It was pretty obvious why after I spoke to one of the owners. I asked him about lactic acid washing of equipment and carcasses. Our former packer didn’t want to quit using lactic, even after we asked them to stop (a few of our customers have lactic acid allergies and were forced to purchase beef elsewhere).
The new plant co-owner said that they dropped it from the processing plan with USDA’s approval after the inspectors saw how cleanly they ran their shop. He said they have a 0 tolerance rule for cleanliness—that means absolutely no residue after processing. They believe clean harder, longer, by hand (unfortunately to the demise of the cleaning guy).
That and many other things in our conversations demonstrated a great artisanal pride in what they do. Even they would say that they handcraft beef.
It’s what we do too. Sounds like a fit to me. Happy trails.
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