Jensen Meat Co. Partners with American Prairie Reserve to Help Support Wildlife-Friendly Ranching and Conserve Native Prairie Across Montana
Otay Mesa, Calif. (PRWEB) May 14, 2015 -- Southern California-based ground beef processor Jensen Meat Company today signed an agreement with Montana non-profit American Prairie Reserve (APR) designed to help support wildlife-friendly ranching and large-scale conservation while providing Jensen access to domestic, naturally-raised, grass-fed beef for its restaurants, retail outlets and food distributors. This product will be available to food service providers beginning in June and to consumers a few months later.
“APR’s wildlife-friendly ranching practices provide our customers with hormone-free, natural beef while helping to ultimately protect an area of native Montana prairie roughly the size of Connecticut,” says Abel Olivera, CEO of Jensen. “There’s a growing demand in the United States for grass-fed beef, so after quite a bit of research, we are proud to support and partner with APR.”
APR’s vision is to create a 3.5-million-acre complex of public and private land dedicated to wildlife conservation and public enjoyment. To increase tolerance for wildlife on lands around the Reserve in Montana, APR has created a wildlife incentive program paying area ranchers for implementing APR’s wildlife-friendly ranching protocols.
Olivera visited APR headquarters in Bozeman, Montana, and traveled to the project area to meet with ranchers participating in the wildlife incentive program. Olivera says participating ranch families may be featured on Jensen’s meat packaging labels along with the APR logo.
“At Jensen, our business model thrives on transparency — all the way from the ranch to our consumers’ table,” says Olivera. “Working with ranchers dedicated to raising non-grain-fed, steroid-free cattle in the Great Plains is about as transparent as it gets. We see this as a real win-win for ranchers and conservation — not to mention our customers, who get great-tasting beef they can feel extra good about consuming.”
APR was founded in 2001 with a vision of restoring wildlife populations to Montana’s Northern Great Plains in numbers comparable to those characterizing the region prior to large-scale settlement. When complete, the Reserve will be the largest area dedicated to wildlife conservation in the continental United States, approximately one-and-a-half times larger than Yellowstone National Park.
“Our focus is to conserve and manage this vast grassland, sometimes referred to as ‘America’s Serengeti,’ for the enjoyment and benefit of the general public and for future generations,” says Laura Huggins, APR’s Manager of Economic Initiatives. “Abel and his team are committed to helping us achieve our ambitions through Jensen/American Prairie Reserve-branded products, which will raise awareness and benefit our operation for years to come.”
About Jensen Meat Co.
Jensen Meat Company, founded in 1958 by Reggie Jensen, is a leading processor of quality ground beef products for the food service distribution, restaurant, retail and school markets, including market leaders Walmart, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Fat Burger and Sysco. Jensen produces 75 million pounds of ground beef annually from its 150,000-sq.-ft. building located in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, California. Driven by the principles of transparency, quality, flexibility and safety, Jensen Meat endeavors to lead the next generation of the beef industry by combining an insatiable passion for quality with steadfast commitment to integrity that can be seen in the business operations and experience in the products. An innovator in food safety, Jensen is committed to delivering the best looking, best cooking and best-tasting ground beef products to its customers and consumers. Learn more at:http://www.jensenmeat.com.
About American Prairie Reserve
By linking together 3.5 million acres of private and public land on Montana’s northern plains, American Prairie Reserve (APR) is creating the largest wildlife reserve in the continental United States. Currently at more than 305,000 acres, the Reserve grows by purchasing private lands from willing sellers and connecting them with surrounding federal public lands. When complete, the Reserve will provide a continuous 5,000-square-mile land area with a focus on wildlife conservation and public access and enjoyment. Learn more at: http://www.americanprairie.org.
Jeff Green, NSTIG8 Marketing, 760 585 7054, [email protected]
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