HAMLER, Ohio — When the COVID-19 pandemic caused headaches for many meat consumers while meat-processing plants temporarily shut down, a northwest Ohio man transitioned in the ag world to return to the industry his family had deep roots in.
Nate Like now walks 35 steps to work every morning.
He said he saw an opportunity during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when people experienced a shortage of meat on grocery store shelves.
He transitioned from the seed business to the butcher business and built Buckeye Meats and Processing with his cousin, Jason Pfau, right next to his home in Henry County.
“It’s a large family passion that I’ve always had,” Like said. “My grandfather owned a meat locker for 60 years here in the great town of Hamler, Ohio. We’re just a small plant here. We’re about 3,600 square feet. We can do just about anything like we said before. We can take it from hoof to plate.”
Tyler Badenhop and Nicole Bostelman work for Like. He trained them to be butchers.
“It’s been steady,” Badenhop said. “We kill probably seven or 10 a week, somewhere in there. That’s between hogs and cattle. We’ve slaughtered probably 163 total carcasses and it’s pretty much non-stop here.
Bostelman is in charge of packaging and explained the process.
“Alright, this is a sirloin,” she said. “We put it in the bag that fits it right, so we’ll put it in the vacuum sealer, close the lid and it creates a seal right here. It will blow air into the bag and blow it up and then it will suck the air out and create a seal and it will be nice and tight.”
Like said the community is the reason their business is a success.
“I’ve got a good friend that buys steaks from us and said they were better than Mancy’s, which is a really well-known restaurant in the city of Toledo,” he said.
More than anything else, Like said it’s all about serving the community, especially helping farmers within northwest Ohio.
“Helping the local farmers be able to get their livestock processed for the local consumers and supply a good quality product coming out of our door for all of the consumers and it’s also kind of fun too to hear the stories from when my grandfather had his business over 60 years,” he said.
Buckeye Meats and Processing is located at 7217 State Route 18 Hamler, Ohio 43524.
