Lorentz Meats diversifies to stay alive

By E. M. Morrison

Cannon Falls, Minn.-- Head past Lorentz Meats’ processing plant, retail store, the deli that serves 200 plate lunches a day, the full-service catering department, and you’ll find a classroom for farmers.

Lorentz Meats, a longtime Cannon Falls business, is itself a lesson in how hometown meat processing is changing. These days, many small and medium-size processors are offering a variety of services for both consumers and farmers, says Rob Lorentz, 40, who operates Lorentz Meats with his brother Mike, 35.

At one time, nearly every little town in Minnesota had a locker plant, recalls AURI meat scientist Darrell Bartholomew. These businesses did custom slaughtering for local farmers, wrapped sides of beef or pork in white butcher paper with scrawling crayon labels, dressed a few deer and stored meat for customers.

That’s how Lorentz Meats started out. In 1968, Rob’s parents, Mary and Ed Lorentz, bought a defunct Cannon Falls meat plant. Over the next two decades, the family built a busy custom operation, processing over a million pounds of meat a year, says Rob, who has worked in the business since he was a teenager.

But in the 1980s, their customer base collapsed. “The farm crisis hit custom plants hard. … Our business was 100 percent dependent on custom processing. We dropped from 1.3 million pounds of product to 300,000 pounds.”

“That’s when we got diversified.”

Now, the market forces that threaten small farms are again threatening small meat processors who depend on them, says Rob, past president of the Minnesota Association of Meat Processors. One way both sectors can compete, he says, is through direct marketing. “We’ve been very active in promoting direct sales from farmer to consumer.”

In 1998, Rob helped craft a new state meat inspection program that allows farmers to sell processed beef, pork and poultry directly to consumers. The program is proving popular. “There are a lot of meat plants now seeing growth from direct marketing.”

To introduce farmers to direct marketing, Lorentz Meats helped develop a 16-hour course called Branding Your Beliefs. “We bring farmers in here and teach them the things they need to know to become direct marketers.”

Over 100 farmers have taken classes at Lorentz Meats in the last 18 months, Rob says. They have also taken their presentation on the road to northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska. “Some have found direct marketing more work than they wanted. But we’ve had a number of farmers who have done very well.”

Rob says successful direct marketers “set the price so they can make money.” They don’t “just sell a pig” either — instead, they learn to convey to consumers what is special about their product.

By working closely with farmers, Rob says, Lorentz Meats is expanding its own sales base, too. “With direct marketing, we are fast climbing back to our former volume of 1.3 million pounds.”

For more information, log on to the Web site: www.lorentzmeats.com