Southwest City Processing has been in the Buchite family for four decades and three generations. The facility became a family operation in 1979 when it was purchased by Ron and Ena Buchite. In 1994, son Gene and his wife Cindy took over operations; their son Jeremy was three-years-old. Earlier this month, he and his wife Sara stepped up to the chopping block.
The walls of 115 W. Choctaw Street in Southwest City hold a lifetime of memories and lessons for Jeremy. He honed his butcher talents here, but Jeremy was also home-schooled at the same desk, in the same office where he now handles business matters.
Jeremy also met his wife, Sara, at Southwest City Processing. The pair got to know each other in grade school, while Sara's mother, Tammi, was employed at the facility.
When asked the first skill he mastered growing up in the processing plant, Jeremy laughs and says, "to play with knives."
His mother Cindy proudly recalls the first time Jeremy butchered beef by himself. He was 16-years-old, his parents were out of the office and the sole employee was under the weather, so Jeremy processed the meat and filled orders alone. When Cindy returned and discovered what had happened, she contacted costumers to ensure the quality of their orders and was pleasantly surprised to hear their satisfaction.
"When I asked him how he knew what to do, he said, 'I've watched Dad do it my whole life,'" Cindy said.
This anecdote reiterates Jeremy's philosophy that custom meat processing is something you can't learn in a classroom. He didn't always intend to take over the family business though. Growing up, Jeremy planned to attend school to become a veterinarian, but he changed his mind as a teenager and instead used his knowledge of animal anatomy to meticulously process livestock.
Southwest City Processing stays busy all year, butchering beef, pork and lamb, with a spike in business every November when deer hunting season opens in the area. The facility processes more than 750 head of livestock and game annually. Skilled butchers expertly handle custom game orders ranging from bear, elk and mountain lion to more exotic meats such as nilgai, four-horned Jacob sheep, red stag and fallow deer.
The facility serves a client base from coast to coast. Orders have been shipped to Maine, California and Minnesota, and customers regularly travel from throughout Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma to have their meat processed in Southwest City.
The Buchite's believe the quality and freshness of custom processed meat sets Southwest City Processing apart.
"It's quicker to the table and better-handled than any meat at a grocery store," Sara said.
To ensure that customers' meat lasts longer and tastes fresher, Southwest City Processing vacuum seals all completed orders. This also allows customers to see what they are purchasing, unlike meat wrapped in standard, brown butcher paper.
Jeremy and Sara say they look forward to continuing the family business and providing the quality of service and satisfaction that customers have come to know and love.
They will continue to carry popular specialty products such as summer sausage, jalapeno cheese summer sausage, jerky, pepper sticks, hickory-smoked pork and flavorful Buchite's Sprinklin' Seasonin.'
Southwest City Processing is located at 115 W. Choctaw Street in Southwest City. The business is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon. Kill day is Friday, by appointment.
General News on 08/15/2019