At the American Meat Conference, Independent Processor editor Sam Gazdziak spoke with Maria Stearns, Sales Representative for Del Terruño, about the company and what they are looking to promote in 2017.

Sam Gazdziak: We’re here with Maria Stearns from Del Terruño. Maria, can you tell us a little about your company?

Maria Stearns: Del Terruño is a brand of grass-fed beef from Uruguay. The name literally means “From Our Little Corner Of The World” and that represents the pride that our breeders have in bringing you the most select animals as part of our brand. Grass-fed beef has a big variety, and our’s is 100 percent natural, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, but it also provides delicious flavor. How? With our breeds Aberdeen Angus and Hereford and also with using just the heifers. We believe the heifers are a more tender cut, and we use animals that are about 36 months.

We’ve been having a lot of success with food service, but this show is really important to us. Being a part of the North American Meat Institute is new. We are a new member and a new exhibitor. I’ve been really excited about the feedback I’ve been getting and the people I’ve been talking to. We’ve been having a great show so far.

Gazdziak: For 2017, what are your goals for the company as far as marketing?

Stearns: We’ve done well with food service to begin with, talking to chefs and getting individual input. One idea they had was traceability. Using a QR code, we are able to track back to the farm. We’ve had traceability in Uruguay for many years, but we are now promoting it more. We really feel like we are retail ready and this is our official launch into the retail market.