FAIRBURY — Dave’s Supermarket is setting an example as a small-town business catering to its customers by bringing back a well-missed product — Dave’s Old Fashioned Canned Meats.
The cooked and packaged meat is popular with busy families and travelers due to its convenience and shelf life, according to Matt Zehr, third-generation employee of the grocery store at 120 S. Third St., Fairbury.
“It’s been a proven product here for 20 years and people drove from quite a distance to buy it because it’s shelf-stable for up to three years. People can pull it right out of their pantry for a quick meal,” said Zehr.
The cans of chicken, pork and beef formerly were processed and provided by Gridley Meats until the business ended its canning operation.
After nearly year without the product, Zehr said the supermarket was flooded with requests to bring it back.
“The opportunity rose for us to buy the processing equipment from Gridley Meats, so we took it,” said Zehr.
A canning room is being constructed in the grocery warehouse to complete the canning process on-site.
Store employees will be trained and the operation will be certified by the USDA and FDA.
Zehr hopes to start production within “several months.”
Jerry Rapp, Dave’s meat department manager, said the process starts with “quality meat from certified packers.”
The meat is chopped and put in pint-sized jars with minimal ingredients — chicken is canned in its natural juice; beef and pork are simply paired with salt and pepper.
A basket is loaded with 165 meat-filled jars, lifted with a hoist and lowered into a high-pressure retort cooker. Steam heats the meat to 240 degrees and the jars are then cooled with water before being labeled and shelved.
“Our goal is to provide the same quality meat we have every day in the store in a canned form,” said Rapp.
Dave's is known for its bi-annual meat sales which attract shoppers looking to stock their freezers with Dave's Old Fashioned selections.
Rapp said "the sky's the limit" when it comes to pressure-cooked food, and employees hope to experiment with different recipes once the line is established.
The high-pressure cooking technique tenderizes meat as if it has been slow-cooked, said Zehr, and the resulting food is ideal to have on hand for a quick meal.
“Moms and dads both work now and schedules are busy. Not many wives stay home to bake from scratch any more. It’s all about the convenience factor,” he said. "We had people coming down from the suburbs of Chicago to buy the canned meat and people who winter in Florida would always stop by to grab a case."
Dave’s was founded in 1950 by Dave and Emma Lou Steffen. The grocery store started a 4,500-square-foot building with one checkout lane. The business has passed through generations and has grown to take up a full city block in downtown Fairbury.
After 68 years of service to Central Illinois, Zehr said Dave’s still strives to “wow the customer.”
Rapp, who has worked at the grocer for 30 years, said employees get to know their customers and that meeting their shopping requests is what sets Dave’s apart from the rest.
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