Sherman Oaks, Calif. (December 15, 2011) – With local, grass-fed beef quickly becoming one of the hottest food trends, Whole Foods Market®, the leading natural and organic food retailer, is proud to introduce 100% grass-fed beef from San Diego-based Homegrown Meats to its stores in San Diego and Orange County.
“Homegrown Meats has a strong commitment to raising cattle on native, California grasses, in an environment that is healthier for the animals, which has resulted in a high-quality beef with unmatched flavor,” said Mike Hacaga, Whole Foods Market Regional Meat Coordinator, Southern Pacific Region. “We are proud to bring the unique, mouth-watering flavor of grass-fed beef to our customers’ dinner tables just in time for the holidays and to support local vendors that offer an outstanding product.” Born and raised at vibrant, oak-lined ranches in San Diego County, one in Fallbrook and one on Palomar Mountain, the cattle range freely and graze solely on the native grasses that grow in the pastures. With a commitment to animal well-being, Homegrown Meats’ Grass-fed beef has earned an impressive Step-4 rating from the Global Animal Partnership 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating™ program. This means the cattle have been raised entirely on pasture with no antibiotics, added growth hormones or animal by-products in their feed and have also met about 120 other standards!
Because grass-fed beef has less total fat per serving, the beef requires a slightly different preparation method. As a resource to customers, Homegrown Meats will be in our stores with to talk to our customers, tell the story of their exceptional Grass-fed beef and grill up some of their amazing steaks! Homegrown Meats beef will be sold at select Southern California Whole Foods Market locations including Hillcrest, La Jolla, Encinitas, Laguna Beach, Tustin, and Huntington Beach. For more information, please visit www.wholefoods.com.
Homegrown Meats is a partnership between the Mendenhall Family, sixth generation ranchers from Palomar Mountain, and long time friends Matt Rimel, Peter Morris, Thad Benshoof and Dan Snyder.
Media Contact: Heather Gordon Rogers Finn Partners heather@finnpartners.com (310) 552-4123
