Footsteps worth following: Better than law school

Eric Sarrazin landed a “cool job” with a digital ad agency right out of college. But for all the modern perks in the D.C. office – the beer fridge and the pool table – he still felt the call of the meat cutting business.

Today, he and his dad, Marc Sarrazin, manage the family’s specialty meat company DeBragga & Spitler, in Jersey City, N.J., just outside New York. The business was one of the very first licensed to sell the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand.

Eric grew up doing emergency deliveries out of the back of the family’s van and riding along to keep his dad awake when a midnight freezer alarm demanded attention.

Decades earlier, the father had swept loading docks, answered phones and cut bones as his dad, Marc Sr., was buying into the business, working his way up from meat cutter.

“For our staff, for them to see that there’s a third generation in the business, they feel good,” Marc says today. “They feel like there’s stability, security…a future.”

When he graduated college, there was a need to grow the sales force.

“My father was a little old school. His way of teaching was just to throw you in the deep end of the pool and have you kind of figure it out,” Marc says.

In turn, he encouraged Eric to get outside experience, and the 2008 economy called for that, too. Many clients are white-tablecloth restaurants, whose success is correlated with that of Wall Street’s.

“When you have a good year, you have a really good year,” Marc says. “When you have a bad year, it’s not an okay year. It’s a bad year.”

Businesses loosening the reins on expense accounts opened a door for Eric. His month-long stint in operations turned into the place where he shines.

At 4 a.m. each day, he arrives to manage logistics.

“This business is driven by what goes on the truck and the quality of what we’re pushing out the door,” Marc says. “Having somebody with interest here looking and seeing what goes on in the back of the shop is invaluable.”

The father didn’t have to tell me he was proud to have his son finding his niche in the family business. I could hear it in Marc’s voice.

During the October-December holiday rush, the same staff might double sales.

“There really is an exhilaration with being in the center of that,” Eric says, recalling his first season running out of product to load. “I ran to the butcher room and there was none available, so I’m sitting there on a saw cutting 4-inch marrow bones and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Man, I’m glad I didn’t go to law school or something like that. This is the kind of work I was meant for.’”

Not coincidentally, I’m sure, his dad also craves the crunch time.

“When I’ve put in a stupid-long day, be it inventory or mail-order in November and December, at the end of the day when you close your eyes and you’re like, ‘Wow. That was a job well done and a good day.’ That’s the most rewarding feeling of all time,” Marc says.

I know more than a few cattlemen who can identify. That’s a group the Sarrazins think of often with reverence.

“When you see the care they give their animals, I hope that they realize on our end we give the same care to the product,” Marc says. “We take a lot of pride, and without ranchers and people doing the right job on that end, we have no job.”

May your bottom line be filled with black ink,

Miranda

A love of ranching is often passed on from generation to generation, but this week we’re showing you that spark for the beef community is often shared within families who process and market the product, too. Our “Footsteps worth following” series celebrates fathers and profiles some of the men who have pursued their careers with an intensity that has inspired their sons to join the profession.

Catch up with these posts:

• An early taste for the brand
• More than just a job

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Footsteps worth following: An early taste of the brand

“It’s always changing, but always for the better.”

If Jeff Jones had to sum up the beef industry, say one thing about the arena he’s poured his life’s passions into, the one that’s given him even more in return, that would be it.

“It’s intoxicating,” the Indiana native, now Michigan local might add.

Catalogues of memories run vivid in his mind. From opening restaurants, doing sales for a small meat company that would later be acquired by US Foods, to serving as a Sysco CAB Specialist and, now finally, heading his own consulting company, Black Hide Solutions, LLC, there have been plenty of reasons to celebrate along the way. But none come close to when Cody, Jeff’s only son – only child for that matter – began working for the brand.

You’d be correct to say the he acquired an early taste for quality beef.

“Cody, he was born in ‘86, so by ‘87, when he first got his teeth, I’m shoving ground chuck into his mouth,” Jeff says through a laugh.

Lighthearted and joyful, Jeff spent Cody’s early years leading by example and teaching him the essentials, like how to throw a pass, the importance of listening in conversation and that subpar beef is unacceptable.

“Most kids, when they’re growing up, go to McDonald’s and play on the playground,” Jeff says. “Well, if you were rolling with me, we’re going to our licensed customers that sell CAB, so that’s what he was eating.”

For Cody, it wasn’t until 2011, though, when he began selling CAB as a Sysco marketing associate, that he was able to wrap his head around the importance of the product that was a staple in his childhood home.

“He would never let me go out and eat bad meat anywhere, so I didn’t realize that what I was eating was actually some of the best meat on the planet,” Cody says.

In school he played football, studied International Relations and didn’t necessarily think about the food industry as a career path. But days spent as a kid visiting his dad’s restaurant customers foreshadowed and prepared him for life today. His dad heard about the position available with CAB and told Cody he should consider it.

“I knew it was going to be a career, not a job,” Jeff says. “From coast to coast I’ve worked with ranchers and restaurateurs connected to the brand. I said, ‘this is a great career path. This is something you can do the rest of your life and be proud of along the way.’”

As an executive account manager, Cody’s territory spans California, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming. On opposite ends of the country, Jeff in Kalamazoo, Cody in San Francisco, the two are sure to chat every week. Cody says every other phone call inevitably ends up taking a turn toward beef.

Both men are still young, with many years ahead of them, but life’s come full circle in a way as Jeff has sat in on a few of Cody’s business meetings when visiting his son on the coast. To see him market the brand, or what he calls “dining room insurance,” makes him swell with pride.

“I just see it, I hear it in his voice,” Jeff says of his son. “Boy it makes a father just swell up. I tell you what, my cup runs over.”

Thanks for allowing me to tell your story,

Laura

A love of ranching is often passed on from generation to generation, but this week we’ll show you that spark for the beef community is often shared within families who process and market the product, too. Follow along in our, “Footsteps worth following” series, as we celebrate fathers and profile some of the men who have pursued their careers with an intensity that has inspired their sons to join the profession.

Be sure to check out Monday’s post More than just a job!

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Footsteps worth following: More than just a job

A love of ranching is often passed on from generation to generation, but this week we’ll show you that spark for the beef community is often shared within families who process and market the product, too. Follow along in our, “Footsteps worth following” series, as we celebrate fathers and profile some of the men who have pursued their careers with an intensity that has inspired their sons to join the profession.

Matt Kotuba can still remember the smell of meat on his father’s hands when he’d come home from work every night.

“It wasn’t a bad smell,” he says, fondly. “I love that smell.”

All grown up now, his father Steve still comes home sporting the familiar aroma — but now Matt does, too.

The father-son meat cutting duo both work for Certified Angus Beef® brand licensee Giant Eagle, a supermarket chain with stores in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, north central West Virginia and Maryland. Steve is a meat team leader at the company’s Settler’s Ridge location while Matt is the meat team leader at store No. 43, The Township of Pine Market District, both in Pittsburgh, Penn.

As second- and third- generation meat cutters, respectively, both got their starts early in life — and both knew there was no other career for them. Matt has fond memories of working in his grandfather’s butcher shop, alongside his dad, as young as 12. Steve’s recollection goes back even farther.

“I’d stand on a milk crate and do bones long before I could reach the counter,” Steve says.

Even then, he had a passion.

“My dad put the love of meat in me. He would raise cattle and buy cattle and I just couldn’t wait to harvest them and see what they looked like,” Steve says. “I guess I did the same thing to Matt as my dad did to me. He’s got a real love for it, too.”

Guys like Steve and Matt, with a passion for meat cutting? They’re a bit of a dying breed in a time where many meat cutters hold the position temporarily, between other supermarket gigs.

“I’ve been with Giant Eagle 23 years and I’ve probably gone through a couple hundred meat cutters,” Steve says. “And I can’t say that I’ve found many who truly love it like we do.”

They do their jobs and do them very well, of course, but it’s not in their blood like the Kotubas’. It’s just another reason both men are great leaders, a responsibility they both take very seriously. Matt says leading his team is one of the most rewarding aspects of his career. And Steve takes great pride in educating his customers when it comes to beef buying and preparation — all in hopes that they’ll have the best possible eating experience. Sometimes he even invites guests to help him out.

“Every summer, I’ll go to the fairs and buy the grand and reserve grand champion steers,” Steve says. “Then I invite the exhibitors up here to talk to my customers about the beef they raised.”

For both father and son, there’s no doubt it’s more than just a job. And one of the biggest reasons? Working with Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand product.

“I’ve worked with a lot of quality beef, but there’s nothing like it,” Matt says, noting the quality and consistency makes his job a whole lot easier.

“All I’d have to say to quality-focused producers,” Steve adds, “is they’re doing a great job.”

-Katrina

Katrina Huffstutler is a freelance writer based in Electra, Texas. She’s a frequent contributor to the Black Ink team and lover of functional cattle and quality beef.

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Burgers on the beach

Music really does serve as a soundtrack for my life. Within the first few chords of a familiar tune my mind drifts to certain people and places.

But it’s not always about memories. In fact, sometimes words of a song I grew up with paint a picture of a place I’ve never been but I feel like I know.

“Go west young man, haven’t you been told, California’s full of whiskey, women and gold…”

To be honest, I grew up about as far as one can from California, and my perception of Hollywood permeated my idea of the state, leaving little room for cattle in its wake. But I should have known better and quickly learned that, similar to Florida, California had been falsely labeled. There was more to the Golden State than beaches and beauty.

Most importantly, a recent visit to the coast taught me this: there’s more to Californians’ palates, too.

Dana Point, Calif., is just a sleepy marina town a few miles south of the better-known Laguna Beach, but along its coastal plane sits Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern – J-FAT for short.

I walked in with my boots and my “yes sirs” and “yes ma’ams” and found its patrons to be friendly, and more surprisingly, eating beef.

“Certainly there is an element of ‘no red meat, no carbs,’” co-owner David Wilhelm says, stating the media’s a bit to blame. But “despite how people talk, I know what they order, and unedited, they’ll choose beef every time.”

In fact, David tells me the number one selling item on JFAT’s menu is the half-pound cheeseburger. Collectively, five CAB burgers make up 20% of all entrées sold. I didn’t get the chance to try one but I’ll take the recent success and growth of the restaurant (now in four locations since its San Diego debut in 2010; Santa Monica is set for September) as truth.

Maybe it’s a West Coast thing, but I wonder if many in and outside of the state were at one point like me and assumed Californians to not eat as much beef as those inland. As in some way the beaches and mountains eliminate desire for that uniquely tender, juicy flavor?

“You hear lots of chatter about eating lighter, vegetarian and avoiding red meat, but the reality is, in a community like this, these are regular people not unlike those that I grew up with in the Midwest,” David says.

Just thought you’d like to know that your hard work as cattlemen is appreciated – and consumed – from coast to coast.

Thanks for allowing me to tell your story,
Laura

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