We Know our Sources: Brandt Beef

Making the trek from Iowa to Brawley, California in the midst of the Great Depression with two roosters, a couple of apples and a $2.10 to spare, the Brandt family entered the livestock business through commercial cattle feeding under the philosophy that if you take care of animals, animals will take care of you – a belief structure that was uncommon prior to consumer concerns regarding hormones and antibiotics in the early 1990s.

Decades later, under the leadership of the second and third generation of the Brandt family, that same philosophy is upheld through their commitment to humane techniques of animal husbandry, which includes feeding their cattle a vegetarian corn-based diet without hormones.

As a member of the Where Food Comes From CARE Certified program and Heinen’s longtime beef supplier, Brandt Beef takes pride in being the “true natural,” “farm-to-fork” cattle rancher.

By Heinen's Grocery Store

In 1929, Joe Heinen opened the doors of a small butcher shop on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, aiming to establish himself as the city’s purveyor of quality meats. As customers came into Heinen’s new shop for their meat purchases, they began asking him to carry groceries as well. Joe added homemade peanut butter, pickles and donuts and by 1933, business had grown enough to include a line of produce and canned goods. Heinen’s Grocery Store was born.