Business Spotlight: Straight from the Source

When the Hoerman family decided to go into business together, they invested in an industry with natural ties to the Ozarks.

Spelled to match the German etymology of the family’s surname, Horrmann Meat Co. LLC specializes in processing and selling locally sourced beef, pork, lamb, goat and bison.

Nearly 13 years after purchasing the former Wyatt Custom Meat Processing plant in Fair Grove, Horrmann Meat controls the entire process, from slaughter and fresh cuts to packaging, wholesale and retail.

“We have credibility really at both ends – the farm end as well as the consumer end – and that’s a little harder to do at times,” says Rick Hoerman, who runs the business with sons Grant and Seth.

The family is riding the local food trend that now appears to have staying power. They operate one retail store in Springfield and have plans to open a second.

“People want to know what they’re eating,” says Seth, who heads up retail. “Being that we have a processing plant, we can directly speak to the people who are raising it. Since we make from scratch so many products, we control the ingredients.

“There’s a lot of those things you see on labels that you don’t know. For us, it’s salt, pepper.”

Springfield expansion
Four years into operating its Queen City store, Horrmann Meats Farmers Market at 1537 W. Battlefield Road, the company is targeting a May opening for its new store in the Fox Grape Plaza.

The need for the 3,300-square-foot space at 3250 E. Battlefield Road – roughly double the size of the first – is driven by customer demand on the east side, Seth says.

“We’re at capacity at our current store, and we don’t have the ability to expand it,” he says, declining to disclose revenue but noting sales increased 20 percent in 2015. “We know there’s a lot of customers on the other end of town that will maybe come to us now for special occasions, but they don’t make us a regular stop.”

The new store, which most recently housed West Coast-style grill The Grotto, means 10 new employees for Horrmann, as well as a commercial kitchen to expand its catering operations.

The majority of retail products are sourced from the Fair Grove plant, and customers soon will have more precooked take-home options.

In Springfield, Horrmann has become known for bratwurst. The company gained popularity selling its sausage at Springfield Cardinals games, a deal that had a five-year run before Johnsonville Sausage LLC took over at Hammons Field.

“We outsold them 3-1 when we were there,” Seth says, noting the Wisconsin company made a successful play to become the sole distributor at the stadium. “Brats are what put us on the map as far as the retail side of the business.”

At the store, Horrmann sells 30-40 types of sausage – from classic German to bacon pepper jack and Mexican flavors – but ground beef is the biggest seller. In the store’s parking lot on Battlefield, customers still can purchase lunch freshly made seasonally during warmer months at the Horrmann Meat Bratwurst Hutte.

Fresh cuts from Fair Grove
The largest slice of the family business still comes from its Fair Grove plant.

Rick says the plant processes around 20 cows and 20 hogs a week, and seasonally, some 400 to 500 deer are brought in by customers.

While the majority of business is in processing for individual farmers, roughly 30 percent of the plant’s meat is sold commercially, through its retail store and local markets. Livestock from Missouri State University, for example, is butchered at Horrmann and then sold at the market and nearby Hy-Vee.

The family says an on-site U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector is a big draw for the plant. Keeping everything up to code is a necessary step in allowing the company and its customers, such as Nixa’s JB Kobe Farms, to sell commercially.

“That’s pretty critical for anyone selling beef like I do,” says co-owner Justin Baker. “If they weren’t, I would not be able to sell at any retail locations, like MaMa Jean’s or their retail store.”

JB Kobe Farms, which raises some 200 head of cattle at a time, delivers one to two animals a month to Horrmann for processing.

Currently under remodel, the Fair Grove plant is roughly two weeks away from finishing a second processing area Rick estimates will increase production by 40 percent, allowing two types of animals to be butchered simultaneously.

“We’re just trying to be the meat experts,” Grant says.