Bradley's Country Store

Bradley's Country Store operates under USDA establishment number M11111 at 10655 Centerville Road in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. The federal record lists meat processing and meat slaughter activities, hogs as the species slaughtered under inspection, and a grant of inspection date on file of September 9, 2021. FSIS classes the plant as very small and places it in slaughter volume category 1, meaning fewer than 1,000 head per year. The plant reports retail-exempt sales and no custom-exempt activity.

The business describes itself as "Doing it the Bradley Way Since 1927," with the store building standing as it was erected that year and the sausage tradition dating to 1910, when Grandma Mary Bradley sold sausage from her own kitchen. The website states the store is run today by a mother and daughter, third and fourth generation Bradleys, and that it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since April 1984. The store's stated trade is old fashioned country smoked and fresh sausage, along with country rarities such as hogshead cheese and cracklings, plus coarse country milled grits and cornmeal ground in the same mill building the family has used since the 1920s.

The website says the famous sausage is put on the counter only after careful selection and slaughter of hogs and the application of a special seasoning of black pepper, red pepper, sage, and salt, with some of the meat stuffed into natural casings and hung in the smokehouse to cure over oak and green hickory smoke. It states no preservatives or additives are used. Contact numbers differ between sources: the plant reports (850) 893-1647 to FSIS, while the store's contact page lists (850) 893-4742.

The federal record reports no custom-exempt activity, and neither the federal record nor the website describes custom slaughter or cut and wrap service for animals brought in by an owner. The website instead describes the plant buying its own hogs, stating that Bradley's uses only top quality hogs bought from producers they know and trust, occasionally supplementing supply by buying 4-H hogs from regional fairs. Producers interested in selling hogs would need to contact the store directly, since terms, volumes, and scheduling are not stated in the sources. FSIS lists the operation as very small with under 1,000 head slaughtered per year.

Bradley's Country Store operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

Households can buy at the store on Centerville Road, about twelve miles from Tallahassee, where the website invites visitors to come out and get a sausage dog. An online shop lists smoked sausage at $8.95, country milled grits at $6.50, cornmeal at $4.50, hoop cheese at $8.95, and gift packs ranging from $21.95 to $69.95. Shipping is available throughout the United States, with sausage, meat, and cheese sent by UPS and shipped only on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; orders placed Wednesday through Sunday are processed the following week. Handling fees are $2 for orders without meat, $4 for meat shipped mid October through mid April, and $10 for meat shipped mid March through early November because of the coolers needed in hot weather. Grits or cornmeal orders of six bags or less ship by USPS Priority Mail. The store does not ship to P.O. boxes, APOs, or FPOs, and reserves the right to substitute items of equal value in gift boxes. Halves, quarters, or bulk carcass sales are not mentioned.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.