Danielle and Max Carrillo were living in Columbia, Mo., and were thinking about moving back to their hometown of St. Joseph, Mo., when they stepped into what they call today “a divine plan.” That move eventually landed them the ownership of a small, family-run custom meat shop known by the name of Clark’s Custom Meat Co.

She was a registered dietitian, and her husband worked from home learning day trading and what makes small business ideas blockbuster empires. They were both foodies who loved to look at ideas and products displayed in supermarkets and meat shops.

When some relatives chatted with the previous owners of the meat shop and found they were looking to sell the shop they let Danielle and Max know about it. It seemed that those owners, Butch and Trina Clark, came to the realization that their children did not want to take over the meat business and the owners decided to pursue a calling to do missionary work.

“We always wanted to work together as husband and wife,” Danielle said. “They gave us a chance to work with them and learn the meat trade in their custom processing company.”

The original plant started in 2003 in a garage on the Clark’s property. As business grew over the years, the couple started searching for another location to serve more farmers in their community. They found some land along Highway 59 about five miles away and built a new shop.

“We worked with them for two years before we took over in 2023,” Danielle said. “It was our dream to work together, and we had the great recipes the Clarks left us. And being the food lovers we were, we began developing many of our own flavors for sausages, jerky, meat sticks, bolognas and other sausages and brats. Of course we wanted to offer any kind of beef, pork or other meats a customer couldn’t find elsewhere.”

Clark's Custom Meat Co. produces about 44 styles of snack and meat stick products in addition to at least 19 items they can make from processing game for sportsmen and more. (Source: Clark's Custom Meat Co.)

Serving variety

In the fall of 2022, the Clarks went under state meat inspection. Their 6,500 square-foot shop specializes in providing quality, creative products at the retail counter, along with focusing on serving their local farmers with custom slaughter and processing. They have grown to 15 employees including themselves.

They were approved for federal inspection this past spring, giving them the potential of expanding their distribution area.

When talking about their core processed meat line up, there are nothing short of 44 styles of snack and stick items. You might do a double take when you see flavors like crab Rangoon, potato and bacon, and buffalo bleu cheese surrounded by their five styles of jerky (cracked pepper, barbecue, sweet and tangy, whole muscle and Mongolian whole muscle). The bacon section features double-smoked bacon, and Hillbilly bacon along with beef bacon. Then there is the Elote, a Hispanic corn flavor with cheese and cilantro that just won the best flavored smoked sausage in the nation at the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) American Cured Meats Championships this past August.

The shop purchases its meat locally when possible but relies on distributors as the source for many of its offerings. They even stock the hard-to-find Japanese A5 Wagyu beef. But their repertoire of local jellies, honey and cheeses will still amaze well-traveled, “seen-it-all” shoppers. How about a blueberry vanilla goat cheese pairing?

Amish chicken, whole ducks and lamb are stocked in the retail area and their website clarkscustommeat.com comes across like a Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog from the mid-1950’s, showing off products in a light that almost outshines what customers will see in the meat cases.

Clark’s slaughters beef, pork, goats and sheep and has a few livestock producers who want their meats privately labeled for later resale.

Max exercises his penchant for tracking data at Clark’s, quite a talent that has a place in the meat business. The Carrillos do little in paid advertising as they prefer targeted digital marketing campaigns such as social media where they can quantify the results of their efforts, be it holiday promotions, gift cards, assortments or bundles, or the volume of sales generated and to whom and, most ideally, obtaining working knowledge to use in future promotional or advertising efforts.

Danielle and Max are also the parents of two boys — ages two and six — who are likely to come in and play with their toys in her office in what they call “the cow shop.” Danielle calls to them by the name “cow shop kids.”

The Clark's team brought home multiple awards from the Missouri Association of Meat Processor's cured meats competition. (Source: Clark's Custom Meat Co.) 

Mindful success

Still, the Carrillo’s dream of working together is firing on all cylinders.

They were delighted to attend a recent conference hosted by the Missouri Association of Meat Processors (MAMP) along with AAMP where they met and connected with many hard-working and helpful meat people like themselves.

“Max decided to take a couple of products to the competition for cured meats,” Danielle said. “He didn’t do too well in that first year’s competition and that just fired him up to work on and finesse his entries even further. It was beyond humbling and rewarding for him to bring home some awards from both the MAMP and AAMP cured meats competitions this past year.”

When asked about whether the company name may eventually change from the original Clark label, she responded in a positive way:

“There is no name change coming soon,” she said. “It’s not about us; it was never about us. It was and remains all about what the company means to those in our community. It’s about the respect we have for everyone around us and the trust they place in us to make our products the best we can and be fair to everyone.”

Clark’s Custom Meat also does game processing and lists at least 19 items they can make for sportsmen. They do not take in whole carcasses but will process only clean and boneless meat trim.

There are many ways in which you can value the merit or worth of a business. Perhaps the best one is when you stumble upon a scene of a family that works together, works hard, makes great products and constantly endures — molding its reputation in the minds of its customers rather than in themselves. Clark’s Custom Meat Co. is one of those places.