Carlson Meat Shop

Carlson Meat Shop, listed with USDA FSIS as Carlson Meat Shop doing business as Carlson Meat Processing, operates at 105 2nd Street North in Grove City, Meeker County, Minnesota. The plant holds establishment numbers M8948, P8948 and V8948, with a grant of inspection on file dated August 25, 2021. FSIS activities on record include meat slaughter and processing, poultry slaughter and processing, and voluntary meat slaughter and processing. The plant is classed as very small, reports cattle, hogs and bison slaughtered under inspection, and falls in the lowest FSIS slaughter volume category, under 1,000 head per year. It also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and packages are marked Not for Sale, and retail-exempt sales.

The shop's website says the business has been in operation since 1913, when William Carlson bought an existing meat market on main street in Grove City, then called City Meat Market. The site describes slaughtering originally done in a building in the town pasture and meat cooled with ice cut from local lakes. A new slaughter house and aging coolers were built in 1955 as custom processing grew, and in 1967 the business moved to its present location one block off main street, with a new cutting room and retail area. The website states the business was family owned by the Carlsons through three generations, and that in 2020 Joel and Jamie Inselmann purchased it and renamed it Carlson Meat Shop. The owners also operate a concrete company started in 2003.

Two phone numbers appear in the record. FSIS lists (320) 905-1381, while the shop's contact page lists (320) 857-2261 and the email info@carlsonmeatshop.com. Buyers may want to try both. The website describes custom processing of beef, swine, buffalo, elk, deer and yak, a full line of retail cuts, and sausages and snack products including jerky. Poultry slaughter and processing appear in the federal record but are not described on the website.

The website states the shop offers custom processing of beef, swine, buffalo, elk, deer and yak, and that custom processing orders can be placed online through separate forms for beef, hog and buffalo, with the shop following up before processing. FSIS records cattle, hogs and bison as species slaughtered under inspection, and the plant reports custom-exempt slaughter, meaning animals owned by the customer are processed with packages marked Not for Sale. The plant is in the lowest FSIS volume category, under 1,000 head per year, so scheduling capacity is limited. Booking lead times, minimums, kill and cut-and-wrap fees, and hanging weight terms are not stated in the sources on file.

Carlson Meat Shop reports custom-exempt slaughter to FSIS, which means it can process an animal a customer already owns (a whole, half, or share bought before slaughter) and return it in packages marked Not for Sale. Most small farms have one or two plants they book with, and the plant's calendar decides the delivery date.

The shop describes a complete line of retail cuts along with many varieties of homemade sausages and snack products such as jerky. Its history page states the business sells halves and quarters of beef and pork and will fill special orders on request, and that it sells all cuts of beef, pork and buffalo. Retail hours are listed as Monday through Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm and Saturday 7:30am to 12:00pm. The online ordering links on the site are for custom processing orders rather than retail purchases. Delivery, shipping and bundle pricing are not stated in the sources.

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.