COSHOCTON − A Coshocton-based halal meat processor is expanding its operations, adding new facilities and services to meet growing demand despite inflation.
Founded by Syed Raza Arif, the business is looking to strengthen community trust and increase production capacity, while recognizing the challenges rising costs for shipping and livestock pose.
Arif opened the business to have access to specific types of meat related to his religion and heritage. It has a store in Dublin and sells online at WeGotMeat.com. The processing plant in Coshocton at 19799 County Road 7 opened in spring 2023. It has about five employees.
It initially specialized in goats and lambs and halal meats, which is a specific type of slaughtering method that adheres to Islamic law. The plant has since added poultry and beef processing and sells chicken eggs. Processing is for Arif’s needs and for private customers, who are coming from Coshocton and surrounding counties.
The slaughterhouse is processing about 600 chickens, 110 goats and lambs and at least one cow each week.
Arif said he opened the Coshocton facility because he didn’t want to be a middle man getting meat from a slaughterhouse, but providing to customers directly. Coshocton was near rural animal providers and about halfway between the major markets of Columbus and Cleveland.
Growth driven by demand
The Coshocton operation initially featured a small barn housing 50 to 60 animals at any one time and a main building about 2,000-square-feet with offices, storage rooms, a kill floor, walk-in cooler and processing room.
New additions include more office space to accommodate a farm manager position, a larger driveway for bigger trucks, a retail and pickup area to offer meat and eggs on-site and a new reception area to manage customer drop-offs and pickups.
“We wanted this extension where people could wait and be greeted, sit and talk to someone and then have their orders brought out,” Arif explained. “We’re hoping to gain more trust in this community, having this building and the people coming in looking at us and looking at our process. That’s going to help us grow even more.”
Future goals would be adding more barns for holding more animals and improving the processing system with more equipment.
Rising costs present challenges
All updates speak to the business growing and increasing customer traffic at the location. A new We Got Meat store is expected to open in Delaware within a few weeks. Arif said that should add an extra production day at the Coshocton facility.
“People in Columbus and urban settings like the fact that the we’re the only true source of a farm direct meat store, or a place they can buy their protein at. We’re the only one that actually owns all the cycles. We don’t raise them, but we have farmers that raise for us,” Arif stated. “People like where it’s coming from is fresh and local.”
Inflation has hit the business hardest where it comes to shipping costs. Arif hasn’t passed that onto customers yet, but he worries that might come by the end of the summer. He said shipping has about doubled from $150 to $300 a load.
He also said the cost of goats and lambs have not come down from winter highs, averaging about $4 a pound. Summer prices last year were about $3.30 a pound. There’s hope fair season will bring prices down as more animals will be available.
“I hope everything works out good from what the situation is right now. We should be able to keep up what we’re doing,” Arif confided.
We Got Meat can be reached by calling 740-781-0800 or 740-630-3540.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 18 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: We Got Meat expands to meet demand for halal and farm-direct meats
Reporting by Leonard L. Hayhurst, Coshocton Tribune / Coshocton Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Leonard L. Hayhurst, Coshocton Tribune | USA TODAY Network
