Meijer is a supermarket chain that deals with various store goods and groceries altogether in the same store. The store is in several locations in America. The supermarket is owned by the Meijer family, founded in 1934, and known for freshness ever since. They deal with various products such as furniture, bedding, health and beauty products, and toys, not forgetting the meat section, which is usually stocked with fresh meat. The freshness of the meat coupled with how long the business has been running might get you thinking about where Meijer gets its meat from.
Where Does Meijer Get Its Meat From?
As stated earlier, Meijer is a US-based supercenter chain, which means Meijer gets its meat from US-based suppliers and vendors. Since Meijer focuses on selling fresh and hygienic meat, they can only get meat raised in the U.S., which means no more than 250 miles away from its processing center. Their meat selection ranges from beef, chicken, pork, and turkey, which are in different brands. The majority of the chicken gotten by Meijer is from farms owned by local families in Tennessee and Shelbyville, Tennessee.
These meats are freshly cut in the store daily from chicken, pork, beef, and turkey. The chicken varieties are chicken breasts, drumsticks, whole chicken, ground chicken, and chicken wings. Also, the turkey meat is available as ground, turkey breasts, or turkey meatballs, whichever one you love most. The pork can be available as center cut, pork shoulder, or ground pork. The good thing about their pork meat is that it is gotten from vegan-fed pigs, which gives it better quality.
How does Meijer ensure customer meat hygiene?
Meijer strives to ensure that their meat is fresh, safe, and healthy for their customers, but how do they go about this? This is explained below based on the different kinds of meat they deal with.
Chicken
- They ensure that all their brand-fresh chickens are antibiotic-free.
- They purchase chickens with a highly nutritious living environment.
- The maximum stocking density used by Meijer is 6.0 lbs/sq.ft.
- They prohibit the use of cages.
- They comply with every requirement given using third-party auditing.
- Chicken processing is done carefully in a controlled-atmosphere processing system.
Pork
- They strictly follow all animal welfare guidelines given not just by USDA requirements but by other institutes such as the North American Meat Institute, Common Swine Industry Audit, the National Pork Board’s PQA Plus Program, and TQA.
- TQA certification, PQA Plus site evaluation and auditing program, hog traceability, and PQA Plus certification are all part of this standard.
Beef
- Processors having direct supply agreements with cattle suppliers and transportation firms conduct business with Meijer.
- The cattle which have been processed are always transported from within 250 miles of their facility, ensuring less stress for the animals while in transit.
- Suppliers that make use of the perfect approach to training and auditing systems and ensure proper humane care of cattle are the ones with whom they partner together.
- All their suppliers make use of USDA inspected facilities that have been inspected constantly by the food safety inspection service on all of their processes and also unannounced internal and third-party audits.
- Also, it is important to note that Meijer is concerned about their customers; thus, they offer a wide range of products such as non-genetically modified products for customers who do not desire bioengineered products and also offer Certified Organic foods.
What type of meat does the Meijer meat store specialize in?
Meijer is a customer-satisfying store, which makes them specialize in a different types of meat to meet their customers’ preferences. The meat is in various categories and types, which include:
Turkey,
- Turkey Meatballs (Meijer)
- Ground Turkey (Jennie-O Lean)
- Oven Roasted Turkey Breast (Meijer)
- Ground Turkey (Honeysuckle White)
Chicken
- Skinless, boneless chicken breasts (Farmer Focus Organic)
- Fresh Ground Chicken (Meijer)
- 100% Natural Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Family Pack (Meijer)
- Hormel Completes Chicken & Dumplings
- Swanson White Chunk Chicken Breast Premium
Pork
- All-Natural Pork Stew Meat (Meijer)
- Frozen Smoked Pork Shanks
- All Natural, Boneless Pork Shoulder Boston Roast (Meijer)
- Pork Sausage Rolls (Bob Evans)
The benefits of buying meat from Meijer
- Meijer preserves their meat with cool air, preserving the taste and flavor with no moisture added to it.
- The feed, which is used to feed the chicken, is organically certified without exposure to pesticides.
- The chickens are not caged, making them grow naturally.
- The meat are not genetically modified.
- The meat gotten from Meijer is natural; there is little or no need for processing as no preservatives or coloring are added to it.
- They sell only antibiotic-free chicken.
- The chickens, cattle, and pigs are mainly fed with vegetables, making them safe for consumption.
Some fun facts about Meijer
If you didn’t know about Meijer before, here is a bit of information about them.
Hendrik Meijer, a barber who entered the supermarket industry during the Great Depression, He was among the first businesses to provide self-service checkout and shopping carts. His 14-year-old son, Frederik Meijers, was one of his first employees who took over after the death of his father.
In Chicago region a new concept was formed which is called Meijer Marketplace, this concept was developed in 2009 while the actualization came into play between 2010 to 2013 with the creation of four stores.
The Niles store closed on June 18, 2016, and the Melrose Park and Berwyn stores shut down on June 17, 2017. The Orland Park store is the last remaining small-format Meijaer still in operation.The Thrifty Acres businesses prospered under his guidance. According to Forbes magazine in 1985, Walmart had failed in what was then known as hypermarkets.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Meijer’s chicken is gotten from U.S.-raised animals and is freshly cut in the store every day. The store also serves you a variety of meats to choose from, depending on your preference. Meijer has beef, pork, chicken, or turkey in stock. Their meat processing and preserving style is top notch giving their customers not just safe, and fresh meat but also a tasty and quality meat.