At long last, Gourmet Beef brings its high-quality Kieckhefer Family beef direct to the public … and the public loves it!
By Hilary Dartt
For more than 80 years, the Kieckhefer family has indirectly supplied beef to some of the finest grocery stores and restaurants throughout the U.S. from its K4 and Diamond A Ranches.
In the spring of 2021 Sarah Kieckhefer and her husband Rick launched Gourmet Beef, LLC with the focus of providing a local single-source beef product to retailers and consumers throughout the southwest.
“The idea started a couple of years ago,” Sarah explained. “We had friends and family asking to buy our beef, but we didn’t have it available locally. I talked to Rick one day and asked why we couldn’t butcher a few cattle and sell the meat to our friends.”
Rick’s reply was, “If we are going to do this, we are going to do it right “.
Shortly after that, they launched Gourmet Beef, offering direct-to-consumer sales through gourmetbeef.com, and Copper State Ranchers Reserve, which provides products to the wholesale markets and restaurants in Prescott, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson, and Flagstaff.
From farmers markets, direct-to-consumer online and restaurant sales, the reviews and response have been amazing.
“We are thrilled with the fact that people are loving it,” Sarah said. “We get repeat customers who say their kids will not eat much beef but now they’re eating it … as long as it’s Gourmet Beef.”
Great beef doesn’t just happen:
Angus genetics and single-sourced beef: The entire cattle herd is Black Angus based genetics which provides the finest quality of meat in the world. All of Gourmet Beef is United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified single source and traceable beef. From start to finish, customers know where their beef comes from.
Strategic feeding: After calves are weaned, they move to Douglas, where they graze on wheat grass, which has more sugars and protein than native grass. They are then moved to “finished feed” which consists of corn, alfalfa hay, cottonseed, distillers’ grain, molasses, and corn silage all mixed into a ration. This finishing feeding process results in more marbling, better flavor, and more tenderness.
Strict standards: The Kieckhefers adhere to standards the USDA’s Non-Hormone Treated Cattle program sets for 100% hormone-free beef (Gourmet Beef is certified hormone-free). All of Gourmet Beef is USDA certified high-quality beef (minimum of 100 days of high-quality and high-energy diet) and all Gourmet Beef is also USDA graded prime and choice.
DNA Data: All the cattle used for Gourmet Beef are sorted for quality and consistency through small DNA samples that provide each animal’s DNA potential for marbling, size, growth, intermuscular fat, and tenderness. The data is measured against a database of 3 million Angus cattle to provide superior information to insure only the best of the best is going into a Gourmet Beef package.
Thanks to these standards, Gourmet Beef is more consistent than what shoppers would find at a mainstream grocery store. Sarah added that people have said they appreciate knowing exactly where their beef comes from and being close to home (the K4 Ranch sits 35 miles north of Prescott and the Diamond A Ranch is in Seligman and runs north to the Grand Canyon).
Gourmet Beef has proven fulfilling, Sarah said: “It fulfills my heart knowing what we’re doing is good, and that we’re producing a fabulous product.”
Learn more and order beef online at https://gourmetbeef.com/, or stop by the Gourmet Beef booth Saturdays at the Prescott Farmers Market. Beef is also available for purchase at the warehouse, 600 E. Moeller St. in Prescott, from 8 a.m. to noon Mondays and Wednesdays or 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.