“It’s good to combine three generations of knowledge and award-winning recipes and pair them with local and regional premium meats and make that into delicious meats and sausages for my customers.” That is the heartfelt sentiment Austin Daniels expresses about being a newer meat processing shop owner in Bozeman, Mont.

The 45-year-old operator of Daniels Gourmet Meats & Sausages firmly believes that high-quality meats that carry a history with them are not available at most supermarket meat counters.

His grandfather, Donald Daniels, started it off when he opened a small meat plant in Browerville, Minn., in 1965 that featured custom processing and naturally smoked meats. There, Donald taught much of the trade to his son Ed Daniels who later opened his own meat shop in Miltona, Minn. Austin pointed out that his dad, Ed, sold his shop several years ago and started Daniels Food Equipment, a sales and consulting company located in Parkers Prairie, Minn.

Austin, who as a child worked at his father’s custom plant, wanted to eventually carry on the family’s tradition in the meat business.

Twenty years ago, he married a Montana girl and later they moved to Bozeman.

“I started my business in Bozeman when I rented a semi office and garage building about 9,000 square feet in size in July 2017 and converted it into a meat operation,” Austin explained. “I actually bought the building in April of 2020.

“The following year I went under USDA inspection and began following my passion for sausage making and cutting meat.”

Two team members at Daniels work in the sausage kitchen to make retail products for the company. (Source: Daniels Gourmet Meats & Sausages)

 

Tied to tradition

It was the family recipes that seemed to stir Austin’s soul. They included products that took the best of show grand championship at the Minnesota Association of Meat Processors (MAMP) competition in 1986. Then there were five products that his father took to the American Cured Meat Championship and earned a grand championship plaque for each one.

“We’re not located on Main Street in Bozeman and people have to find us,” Austin said about his advertising. “We have some signage, appear on television, support our 4-H club, schools and sports teams, along with fishing and hunting clubs and anything to do with veterans.

“About nine months ago we began promoting on Facebook and Instagram along with our website, danielsgourmetmeats.com. This whole e-commerce thing has been tremendous for us and many of our regular customers come from an hour or two hours away just to shop with us.”

And when those customers come in, they know they’ve found the mother lode in meat. Even the front door handle to the 1,200-square-foot retail area is a meat cleaver. It was one Austin had purchased and his father welded onto the door bracket.

Once inside the store smoky flavors seem to permeate shoppers’ souls. Daniels Gourmet Meats & Sausages uses hardwood and hickory for smoking. Many first timers come in mostly for the bacon, available in nine flavor profiles including coffee, pastrami, chorizo, chipotle lime and even one called rattlesnake bacon...more because of the heat than the protein source.

Shoppers are drawn to the brat array (32 different flavors) and are impressed with the small batch artisan style products and charcuterie items that send taste buds into dreamland. An example of the small-batch approach and flexibility is evident in the nine versions of summer sausage, or the plethora of jerky types, snack sticks, deli hams and assortment of lunch meats, and smoked and fresh sausages.

Daniels is quick to point out that this is a meat shop where customers also come in for fresh meat cut to their wishes and the staff of 22 employees is there to accommodate them. There is something about that personalized service that plays an integral part of the customer loyalty that the shop experiences.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Shortly after the shop opened, Covid-19 forced the entire operation to close for six weeks. Austin recalls that time and shares the action plan they put into place:

“We brought in an entire new phone system and converted to become a drive-by and pick-up shopping experience. Our staff talked to each customer who was looking for local and reliable products. Their orders were brought to them at curbside. It was quite an adjustment for our customers and our staff, but somehow, we all came through it with a greater appreciation for each other.”

Considering how much this enterprise means to the population of Bozeman, its location and the outdoors-focused culture of the region translate to the company’s offerings.

“We love Montana with the fishing, hunting, hiking and skiing opportunities,” Daniels said. “Many people love to come here for a few days or a week to enjoy nature. We bring in something special in our seafood and fish offerings. We sell items like King crab legs, cold water lobster, clams and scallops, tilapia, Ahi tuna, orange roughy, wild-caught shrimp, mahi-mahi, catfish and trout. We have what we call ‘Fresh Fish Friday’ when seafood items are flown in fresh and sold to customers who placed their orders by Monday of each week.

“There are not a lot of places in Montana where you can find what we offer in fresh and frozen fish and shellfish. If we offer the best quality meats, our customers know we are also going to offer them the best quality we can find in those seafood items.”

For tourists who spend more time in the area, a popular item is what the Daniels shop features on its website called Bundles. There is the Weekend Bundle, the Breakfast Bundle, a Steak/Chops/Brat assortment...and even a Wild Game Bundle that includes bison cuts, along with a Smoked Charcuterie Bundle. Indeed, there is no second-class in this shop’s fare.

The Prime and Choice Angus beef, Wagyu beef, lamb, pork and chicken selections are standard offerings at the shop, which does about 80% of its volume in retail and wild game processing sales and services.

Local and craft beers, local wines and breads, local veggies and other groceries make it a meat shop where shoppers can get almost everything for a complete meal.