If you live in the Wateville area and you like meat..... (Bangor: how much, home)

[timsmith2]

I can't speak for everything. I'm not a huge meat eater. But I do go through a lot of beef. Normally I get my beef at Joseph's in Waterville. I wanted burgers a couple of months ago and Josephs was closed so I went to Hannaford and got some 85%. It was honestly the worst beef I've ever eaten. Even worse than the time I broke down and talked myself into buying some at WalMart. Far worse. In my defense, Hannaford beef used to be passable. But I hadn't bought any there in years.

When I got home and unwrapped it, it was a very firm brick shaped pile of "meat". I weighed out 8 ounces and formed a perfectly round ball. Pressed down on it to form a burger and it flattened out. Into a square! That was when I knew I was in trouble. Either way, I already paid for it, might as well cook it. So I threw it on the heat and cooked it the same way I would normal hamburger. The result was a "burger" that was full of gristle and a cross in texture between a sponge and a piece of rubber. It was honestly the worst burger I have ever had.

I have had beef from all three major grocery stores in town. None of them come close to Joseph's in quality. I don't work there and I am not associated with them at all. I just cannot believe how much better they are than everybody else when it comes to beef. I was posting about pizza earlier and most of mine are topped with beef, so I just thought I would share my experiences. The crazy thing is they are significantly cheaper than Hannaford. Hannaford has gotten really greedy the last couple of years. They are almost as bad as Shaw's on prices now. Pretty sure they are cheaper than WalMart too- which I try to avoid if I can help it. If you live in the area and have never tried them, check them out. You will never want hamburg from anywhere else again. You want to be careful with some of the sales. Not the normal ones. But if it's too good to be true, it might be. For example: they had frozen haddock there for $4 a pound last winter. When I unthawed it, it was soaked. Saturated. I have never seen anything that wasn't a sponge absorb that much water. I dried the pieces as best I could, but even after cooking in the oven they were watery. But other than that, they have awesome meat.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by timsmith2

I can't speak for everything. I'm not a huge meat eater. But I do go through a lot of beef. Normally I get my beef at Joseph's in Waterville. I wanted burgers a couple of months ago and Josephs was closed so I went to Hannaford and got some 85%. It was honestly the worst beef I've ever eaten. Even worse than the time I broke down and talked myself into buying some at WalMart. Far worse. In my defense, Hannaford beef used to be passable. But I hadn't bought any there in years.

When I got home and unwrapped it, it was a very firm brick shaped pile of "meat". I weighed out 8 ounces and formed a perfectly round ball. Pressed down on it to form a burger and it flattened out. Into a square! That was when I knew I was in trouble. Either way, I already paid for it, might as well cook it. So I threw it on the heat and cooked it the same way I would normal hamburger. The result was a "burger" that was full of gristle and a cross in texture between a sponge and a piece of rubber. It was honestly the worst burger I have ever had.

I have had beef from all three major grocery stores in town. None of them come close to Joseph's in quality. I don't work there and I am not associated with them at all. I just cannot believe how much better they are than everybody else when it comes to beef. I was posting about pizza earlier and most of mine are topped with beef, so I just thought I would share my experiences. The crazy thing is they are significantly cheaper than Hannaford. Hannaford has gotten really greedy the last couple of years. They are almost as bad as Shaw's on prices now. Pretty sure they are cheaper than WalMart too- which I try to avoid if I can help it. If you live in the area and have never tried them, check them out. You will never want hamburg from anywhere else again. You want to be careful with some of the sales. Not the normal ones. But if it's too good to be true, it might be. For example: they had frozen haddock there for $4 a pound last winter. When I unthawed it, it was soaked. Saturated. I have never seen anything that wasn't a sponge absorb that much water. I dried the pieces as best I could, but even after cooking in the oven they were watery. But other than that, they have awesome meat.

Walmart. Doesn't make fresh burger onsite all it's burger is shipped in and packaged thousands of miles away

Hannaford. They too have gone the shipped in burger route
Except for their. 80/20. Grade.
Hannaford years ago use to be known for good meats
Now they are owned by a huge conglomerate From Belgium
Again. If you see wavy burger ( pattern) at Hannaford it's been shipped in from thousands of miles away

Shaws uses what they call tube burger - preprocessed


The independents and butcher shops are the only ones left doing the real burger from steak trimmings

Joseph's market has been there forever Kevin the last of the Joseph's sold out a couple years ago and he opened a successful restaurant

I also heard. That. There's a new meat market called emerys in Waterville


I use to be a meat manager for Hannaford many years ago
I still own hundreds of shares of stock
But their meats have gone south

They are a chained owned store you have one buyer buying for hundreds of stores

Independents can buy from many different and local suppliers

Case ready pre cut steaks are also coming to supermarkets just like Walmart
Food lion went case ready
Stopnshop is going case ready meats
These are sister chains of Hannaford (same owners)

Case ready means cut thousands of miles away and shipped in
Not cut fresh on site.

[maineborzoi]

We love our meats from our local IGA... Local type meats, known source, and well done in freshness.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by maineborzoi

We love our meats from our local IGA... Local type meats, known source, and well done in freshness.

Thank you for posting !

I have to agree with this. Well said 😄

At least you know your steaks and pork chops are cut by hand
Fresh at the store
And they welcome special orders/requests something Walmart doesn't. Do

[maineborzoi]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

Thank you for posting !

I have to agree with this. Well said 😄

At least you know your steaks and pork chops are cut by hand
Fresh at the store
And they welcome special orders/requests something Walmart doesn't. Do

They Are ! And if you want a bigger size whatever- they will get it for you- right then- right there.... Love their fresh ground hamburger... Made just that day !

[Maineac]

W.A. Bean Meats on the Bomarc Road in Bangor. They even make Rice's hotdogs as well under contract. I've seen all the hotdogs made. No waste scraps there. Only ones I'll let the grandkids eat. And the finest cuts, various vegetables, potatoes, cheese, beef sections available (1/4, 1/2) and for the West Coasters they might even knock you out a tri-tip if you want.

Only place we buy pork or beef any more. Pricier than Hannaford, but well worth it.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by maineborzoi

We love our meats from our local IGA... Local type meats, known source, and well done in freshness.

Are you sure the meat is raised locally? In the 26 years I've shopped there I'd not heard this until now.

[Maineac]

It's all shipped in. There are no processors left in Maine that I know of unless you want to take a critter to Maplewood Farms out in Charleston/Bradford. I sincerely doubt the IGA has any much of anything actually "local."

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Maineac

It's all shipped in. There are no processors left in Maine that I know of unless you want to take a critter to Maplewood Farms out in Charleston/Bradford. I sincerely doubt the IGA has any much of anything actually "local."

all shipped in?? no processors left??

more and more iga's are doing business with local farms

and there are still some processors of beef critters and hogs around the state
here are a few
pineland farms/wolfnecks farm in new gloucester and freeport
herring brothers in guilford
bisson and sons in topsham
curtis custom meats in warren
westons in litchfield
west gardiner beef

new place in gardiner maine for local meats

and there are many others...


here are a few pictures.... again, the local iga can sell local products...and many stores over 20 i know of already do

here's the challenge.... availability...
i pushed pineland farms maine beef to over 50 stores (iga's) in maine from wells to ft kent
retail price and availibility was the challenge....out of the 50 stores i pushed to get maine meats in only 3-4 was able to keep selling it
places like french and brawn in camden .

the local, grass fed, and organic meats can be very pricey and do not sell well in many rural towns......but more and more stores are offering local products

keep in mind.....the iga's have a high price image to many compared to hannaford and walmart and shaws.....
maine is a poor state most mainers make purchase decisions on price....

and the sirloin strip in the picture from maine,,,the retail price per lb is 19.99 ....

rib eyes and strips are in high demand....thats why they are so high...and if you take these out of the critter you still have to sell the rest..









here's a list of processors
wholesalers not all of them

https://www1.maine.gov/dacf/qar/insp...lantsrev08.pdf

[Maineac]

Sweet. I knew about Herring Brothers, since they do business with W.A. Bean. I just figured that the IGA franchises would do whatever it takes to pull the highest markup. My incorrect assumption. My freezer is full of venison in any event. We do go get slab bacon now to mix with the trim for sausage. One of the boys came up with that a few years ago. Trimmed venison, bacon, stuffed in natural casing with duck eggs for breakfast all winter. Mmmm.