The Food Emporium Goes Organic with Beef

08/11/07 The Food Emporium, the Manhattan-based specialty gourmet grocery chain, announces it will become the first major grocery store to be certified to handle and cut organic beef in its full-service meat departments. Sixteen Manhattan-area Food Emporiums will begin cutting fresh certified organic steaks in-house as a value-added program for its customers on November 8.

Working in close partnership with Dakota Beef, the nation's leading certified organic beef company, Food Emporium stores have undergone a rigorous certification and verification process by International Certification Services allowing them handle organic beef in accordance with the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP). Without organic certification, the only way grocers can sell certified organic beef is pre-packaged. "With this organic certification, we have raised the standard of our full-service meat departments by making organic a centerpiece in the premium, gourmet experience we offer our customers," said Ray Donnelly, Senior Merchant Meat and Seafood for The Food Emporium. "No other beef supplier has brought so much extra value to our meat program as Dakota Beef has with this organic certification and their premium organic beef," he added.

This marks a huge step forward for the booming organic food industry by adding yet another layer of credibility and bringing consumers closer to the farm. With this program, organic beef consumers can be confident that every step in the supply chain is certified and managed; from the ranch to the processing plant to now their grocery meat counter. To further solidify its position as the premium organic beef company, Dakota Beef has recently signed a deal to purchase cattle from the McEwen Ranch, now one of the largest certified organic Angus ranches in the country. "I am extremely proud of The Food Emporium for taking this final step to ensure the beef their customers are purchasing is indeed organic and verified according to the strict USDA organic standards. What this ultimately does is ensure the USDA organic seal stands for something with integrity," said Dakota Beef Founder Scott Lively. "This is just the beginning of a positive new trend for our industry. We expect to announce several other major retailers who are following The Food Emporium's lead with certified organic meat counters."