Vande Rose Farms | 2604 South 33rd Street | Oskaloosa, IA 52577 | 866-522-4448
5/3/2007 - Vande Rose Farms opens store in northern California
What’s an Iowa farm doing running a meat market in northern California? Meeting customer demand for premium Duroc pork and Hereford beef, of course.
On March 1, Vande Rose Farms of Oskaloosa opened a specialty food store – Vande Rose Farms Meat & Fish – in Granite Bay, California, in the fastest growing county in the U.S. The store is located in Quarry Pond Town Center, an upscale mall targeting well-educated, sophisticated, high-income, quality-conscious consumers.
“We’ve been looking for the opportunity to open a retail location to serve consumers who have enjoyed our pork and beef in restaurants and want to prepare it at home,” says Steve DeBruin, Vande Rose Farms chief executive officer. “The developers of Quarry Pond asked us to participate in a unique retail environment created to provide a place for people to buy fresh, organic, natural and delicious food.
“Being part of this project creates greater awareness for Vande Rose Farms products where, previously, we were only been available in restaurants,” adds DeBruin. “It also allows our customers to buy our all-natural, source-verified Duroc pork and Hereford beef direct from the farm to serve in their homes.”
In addition to Vande Rose Farms Premium Duroc Pork and Premium Hereford Beef, the 2,000-square-foot store also offers source-verified chicken, lamb and fish, and Vande Rose Farms branded seasonings and rubs.
“There is a movement toward healthy eating taking place in key regional markets throughout the United States. Source-verified foods – proteins in particular – play a key role in this supply chain,” says De Bruin. “Vande Rose Farms wants to be a leader in this movement, whether we’re supplying our source-verified pork and beef to existing grocery stores or selling from our own branded Vande Rose Farms stores in key regional markets.”
Vande Rose Farms meats are available in more than 1,800 restaurants and stores in major metropolitan areas primarily on the East and West Coasts in the U.S. and in Korea.
The store will soon fulfill internet sales so customers can buy products cut to their own specifications and have it shipped directly to their homes.
The store’s master butcher is Pete Reiter, 25-year veteran in the meat business in Sacramento. Mark Stewart, who trained under Reiter during his apprenticeship, is the assistant butcher.
In Iowa, Vande Rose Farms is on the menu at Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company in Des Moines.
Granite Bay, California