120 years of specialty butchery

Philip, Andreas and Sabine Meerpohl (from left) receive the Golden Certificate of Honor from Eckhard Stein, President of the Oldenburg Chamber of Crafts (2nd from right) and Klaus Sünkler, Head Master of the Oldenburg Butchers' Guild (right).

Submitted by Fleischportal.de am 09 November 2023, Published in Company

Anyone who comes from Oldenburg has known the bold red lettering on the facade on Alexanderstrasse since childhood. For 120 years now, the name Meerpohl, known far beyond the city limits, has stood for enjoyment, craft tradition and now also for a family history full of entrepreneurial spirit.

Regionality and quality as success factors
Even if the building complex of the Meerpohl specialty butcher shop and its generous parking space characterize the image of Alexanderstrasse today, it all started much smaller and completely somewhere else. In 1903, Friedrich Meerpohl founded his butcher shop at the other end of Huntestadt. He was certainly not aware at the time that he would be laying the foundation for a success story that has now spanned five family generations.

A lot has changed in the last 120 years. The high standards that the family business places on its products are not one of them. While at the beginning of the 20th century the animals to be processed were raised by farmers from the surrounding area and delivered with horse-drawn carts, today they still come from the region: “Of course a lot has changed in terms of transport and processing standards, but for us and my predecessors “It is always important to know exactly where our raw materials come from,” says managing director Andreas Meerpohl.

Business is a family tradition
The meat industry environment is sensitive. “Sustainability, animal welfare and respect for living beings are not modern demands for us,” adds Sabine Meerpohl, who shares responsibility for the traditional company with her husband. “The pork that we offer in the shop and at the weekly markets comes from regional open-stable farming with husbandry level 4 - so we meet the highest standards,” continues Sabine Meerpohl. The family also sets high standards when it comes to marketing their products: The new sub-brand for more sustainability, transparency and animal welfare uses the creative slogan “Meerwohl” based on the family name.

The calculation works out – the specialty butcher shop now has 85 employees. Not least because an economic sensitivity seems to run through the family history. In addition to sales in their own shop, there are now other mainstays: the family has been proving itself as an event caterer with a commercial kitchen since 1970. On the other hand, the butcher's grilled meat machines, which offer a 24-hour service and are listed in local branches of large supermarket chains, are much newer.

Next generation takes responsibility
The management, which has been joined by the next generation this year, is well aware of the much-discussed CO2 footprint of their industry: “We try to take the sustainability aspect into account in everything we do. “It’s now also a question of cost-effectiveness,” explains son Philip Meerpohl. “Our company buildings have a large photovoltaic system and two efficient combined heat and power plants. “In addition, we use reusable tableware or sustainable paper packaging materials wherever possible,” continues Philip Meerpohl.

The idea of sustainability does not stop at the product range either: “There are now numerous meat-free products from the Meerpohl brand both in the catering area and in our displays and those of regional supermarkets.”

Source: Butchers' Guild Oldenburg