Strolling in front of our 50-foot meat counter is a mouthwatering experience, with all the different cuts of fresh meats, marinated meats, fresh sausages and deli meats but do you know there’s so much more to it than that? Remember the show “Cheers,” the neighborhood bar where everyone knows your name? While we may not know everyone’s name that strolls up to the meat counter, I bet our team recognize a lot of you by your favorite cuts of meat! And even though the meat case alone is enough to excite any cook, know that there is a whole lot more to our butcher department than just “what meats the eye.”
Here then, are five advantages to shopping with your local Lepp Farm Market butcher.
- Traceability – not only do we know where the meat comes from, we carefully raise the animals ourselves. Pork and chicken here at Lepp Farms in Abbotsford and beef at Hat Creek Cattle Company in Ashcroft. No additional growth hormones, all vegetable diet, no routinely administered antibiotics and all are processed at small, family owned facilities within the Lower Mainland.
- Freshness – That’s why we put windows into the meat room, so you can see how fresh our meat is when the butchers get to work cutting up the carcasses. Our ground beef is ground fresh each morning and doesn’t return to the fresh case the next day if not sold. The pork chops and steaks have not been overwrapped in plastic and shipped from a central packaging warehouse hundreds of miles away.
- Variety and Quality – I doubt you’ll find a hanger steak or a brisket at the big box or chain grocery store. Although some cuts of meat require pre-order, you can typically find those harder to come by items with your local butcher. We try to give our team members as much knowledge as we can to help you understand how to cook some of these lesser known cuts. And if they can’t help, then Chef Nick and his kitchen team are ready to coach you on cooking tips.
- Top Notch Service – Looking to try a turducken this Christmas? Or need a shell bone roast? (I didn’t even know that was a thing) Or want your steak cut to a certain thickness? Or does your culinary heritage require pork loins to be cut a particular way? Our team of butchers is there to help you with (almost) any special request you may have. Looking for Canadian Bison or fresh, never frozen, local lamb? We’ve got it!
- They’re just plain handsome (they asked me to throw that one in there)