Seven Hills Abattoir

Seven Hills Abattoir operates at 7 Abattoir Street in Lynchburg, Virginia, under FSIS establishment numbers M46877 and P46877. The federal record lists meat processing, meat slaughter, and poultry slaughter activities, a small size class, and a grant of inspection date on file of March 3, 2022. Cattle are the species reported slaughtered under inspection, and the plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and the packages are marked Not for Sale. The FSIS slaughter volume category on file is 2, above the smallest tier of under 1,000 head per year.

The company website, published as Seven Hills Food Company, describes the operation as a beef processor that connects local beef producers to local beef consumers. It states the 50,000 square foot plant was the former Dinner Bell Meat Company property, purchased in 2013 and reopened after renovation in 2015. The site says the company supplied Virginia beef for the 2017 Presidential inauguration and describes itself as having the largest capacity of any independent facility in the Mid Atlantic region. Its stated immediate service area is Virginia and surrounding states. Note that the federal record lists poultry slaughter activity, while the website describes beef work only.

Beyond slaughter and cut-and-wrap, the website describes value-added production including beef jerky, hotdogs, snack sticks, deli items, tallow products, pet treats, and leather from cattle hides through a partnership with Hermann Oak Leather Co. and Moore & Giles. A wholesale and food service arm sells dry-aged, fabricated boxed beef, grind, and patties, with distribution named through Performance Food Group in Virginia, Fells Point Wholesale Meats in Baltimore, and 4P Foods in Charlottesville and Warrenton. A retail brand, The Virginia Beef Company, is described as carried in Kroger and Harris Teeter stores in Virginia. Contact numbers differ between sources: the plant reports (434) 825-6177 to FSIS, while the website lists 434.845.1100.

The website states the plant takes 1 head or 100, advertises no lead times and no fees, and says cattle can typically be scheduled within one to three weeks. Free boxes, premium packaging, flexible schedules, and delivery are listed. A published USDA cut sheet and pricing guide, ready-to-eat pricing, and delivery and freezing pricing are referenced on the site. Farmers can route hindquarters into jerky, ground beef into hotdogs, cull cows into snack sticks, and organs into pet treats. Carcass and finished cut data, excluding live weight, are recorded and provided through invoicing software with export to spreadsheets. The site also describes help with USDA and FSIS label claims such as 100% Grass Fed, Angus, or Wagyu, requiring signed paperwork submitted to FSIS, a trim buyback priced off published USDA boxed beef markets or wholesale needs rather than retail, and a paid annual option to be featured on the company website and regional directory. The federal record also shows custom-exempt slaughter for customer-owned animals, with packages marked Not for Sale.

Seven Hills Abattoir 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 website hosts an online store listing dry-aged grain fed beef in eighth, quarter, and half shares, priced at $699 for an eighth, $1,249 for a quarter, and from $2,499 for a half, all shown as sold out at the time of capture. A customer spotlight page directs buyers to processing clients selling Wagyu, grass fed, and grain fed beef, including Cottonwood Ranch in Front Royal, which the site recommends for home delivery across most of Virginia, plus Back Creek Wagyu, Glenmary Reserve, Rapidan Beef Co., Mountain View Meats, Bays Family Farm, and Baldwin Farms Grass Fed Beef. The retail brand The Virginia Beef Company is described as available in Kroger and Harris Teeter stores in Virginia. No on-site retail counter or store hours are stated.

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.