With USDA certification in hand, Ouray Meat & Cheese Market eyes expansion, national market
Tony Schmidt’s bratwurst, made from his grandfather’s recipe, is the most popular item at Ouray Meat & Cheese Market. Until late January, it was only available in the shop, but now it’s going national: The market is now a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified meat processing facility, which allows Schmidt to ship his products out of state, one way that Schmidt is working to make Ouray County’s business climate stronger.
“We’re trying to create more jobs, more local products and boost the winter industry,” Tony said in an interview with the Plaindealer.
He said he is proud that most of his products are made from local meats, and if there was a local creamery, the cheese would be local, too.
Tony, 45, has lived in Ouray County since he was 7 years old. He graduated from Ouray School and worked 17 years in local law enforcement for both the county and city. His wife, Liz, has lived in Ouray County her entire life.
Tony opened Ouray Meat & Cheese Market with his business partner, Mike James, six years ago. Although Tony now owns the whole business, James is still involved as an occasional consultant, and Tony credits him with the store’s existence.
“If I wouldn’t have had him to begin with, I wouldn’t be here now,” Tony said.
The Ouray Meat & Cheese Market at 726 Main St. in Ouray offers homemade sausages, smoked meats and hand-cut steaks, among other foods, and will soon be taking online ordering since it received USDA certification. The bottom floor of the shop, which used to be a garage and welding shop, now serves as the meat processing facility. It opened six years ago.
Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer
Tony received the USDA certification and started operating under it on Jan. 29. Ouray Meat and Cheese Market now has a full time USDA inspector on site, which is one of the requirements that go with the USDA grant of inspection. Tony also has to provide office space for inspectors. Two different inspectors, based in Mesa County, share the full-time job so that one of them is always on site.
“They pretty much follow me around with a clipboard,” Tony said. “They also send meat samples off for inspection and make sure my records are straight.”
That’s not all that’s required, either, but Tony was already meeting most of the benchmarks because the shop has always been state inspected.
“We just couldn’t sell online or ship out of state before,” Tony said.
Now, he can, and soon he’ll have his website set up for online ordering. He can also make and sell custom products for restaurants and can butcher and make product from elk and bison, which was an added certification. Tony has initial agreements to distribute his products at the Ridgway Conoco, Ouray Grocery and Mineshaft Bar, Restaurant & Pizzeria.
Tony says he has not had more than three hours of sleep a night for the past six months while filling out “hundreds of pages of licensing and bookwork.”
He also hired two attorneys. The cost of obtaining a USDA Grant of Inspection?
“I don’t know how you would figure it,” Tony said.
He recounted a laundry list of requirements, including changing equipment and staffing hours to conform with federal regulations. He can make product only during government-approved hours and not on federal holidays. He said he hired two legal firms to assist with meeting federal regulations and standards, proving product safety and writing product recall procedures.
“I don’t even know a price to put on it, but it’s not cheap,” he said.
His wife, Liz, attested to the challenges. “It’s been tough living with him, but I think it’ll be worth it. Without growth, you become stagnant. And, you can’t teach passion. Tony definitely has it,” she said.
Now, Tony has a goal to grow his business by at least five times the current volume, with the ability to sell wholesale and ship directly to customers.
Tony said he’s always loved experimenting with recipes, and his grandfather did, too. In fact, that popular bratwurst recipe is right out of the book his grandfather had with him at Iwo Jima during World War II.
Ouray Meat & Cheese Market owner Tony Schmidt and manager Nick McCullough shred pulled pork from the company’s smoker on Feb. 17. The smoker, located in the bottom floor of the store, can hold 550 pounds of meat and Schmidt can control it remotely. Schmidt obtained USDA certification in January and can now sell products wholesale and ship them across the U.S.
Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer
“My grandfather was a butcher in Wisconsin, and my father worked for one. I took it up as a hobby when I got into wild game,” Tony said.
Tony started the store in the first place because people kept asking him to make food like bratwurst and bacon for them.
“It’s always fun to see what Tony brings home,” Liz said. “He has a very eclectic taste. There have been a few occasions when I refused to try something, though. I like the basic stuff, but it’s fun to go out with him and see what he orders.”
She listed things like “pickled random fish … a smoked whole white fish, head and all … and suet pie, which is made of beef suet, so basically a pie made of fat.” She said she’s not as adventurous an eater.
But passion alone isn’t why Tony applied for the USDA certification.
“Ouray is a very narrow market, very seasonal,” James said. “We would always get people who’d come through and love the product and want to buy it online. That’s what everyone is doing now, anyway. Tony is very talented and has a good product. He’ll do well.”
This pulled pork from Tony Schmidt’s Ouray Meat & Cheese Market is now available for ordering and shipping, since the business owner obtained USDA certification. Schmidt hopes to quintuple his production, since he can also sell wholesale. He hopes to distribute his products widely across the nation.
Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer
Tony employs five people year-round and up to 12 in the summer tourism season. The 500- square-foot retail space that customers see sits above a 2,000-square-foot processing plant, complete with that USDA inspector’s office.
Ouray Meat and Cheese Market, located at 736 Main St. in Ouray, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the winter. Its website is ouraymarket.com.
