July 7, 2022

Pennsylvania, US-based grocery chain starts selling locally sourced beef

Grocery store chain Karns Foods, which is based in Pennsylvania, the United States, is now stocking its meat case with fresh, locally sourced beef.

The family-owned grocer partnered with 19 Central Pennsylvania farmers to create a first-of-its-kind agri-business model. Karns Foods is selling locally produced, raised and managed private beef in partnership with Pennsylvania farmers in the US.

Farms in Berks, Juniata, Lancaster, Cumberland and Lebanon Counties raise and process the cattle. There are currently approximately 1,800 head of cattle involved in the partnership.

"It is a much more environmentally friendly item because we're not hauling beef from the Midwest in trucks," Scott Karns, owner and chief executive officer of Karns Foods, said. "It's raised here in Central Pennsylvania, processed in Central Pennsylvania, out to our stores. You know the local farms are raising corn and silage out on their fields. So its just, I think it's a much better programme. Do I know how much better? No, but I know it's local and I know it's better for our whole state of Pennsylvania to have local products."

Before the launch of this programme, much of the beef sold in grocery stores came from cattle from the US Midwest. Sourcing beef locally provides more consistency for inventory, fresher meat and lower shipping costs. It also benefits the local farming industry.

Many Pennsylvania dairy farms converted to cattle farms once dairy eventually became unprofitable and unsustainable for them. The partnership with Karns Foods offers some of these farmers a new way to sell their product.

Karns Foods interviewed numerous farms over the past year while in the process of starting their partnership.

July 5 was the first day shoppers are able to purchase locally sourced beef at all 10 Karns Foods locations.

- Fox43