Stampede Meat Inc. announces its new partnership with DL Lee & Sons, Inc. This collaboration will allow for Stampede to expand its geographic production footprint into the Southeast. The company’s expansion outside of Midwestern U.S. into the Southwest first began back in 2018 when they announced their grand opening of their Sunland Park, New Mexico, facility. During 2021, Stampede also expanded its footprint by opening Stampede North, a facility in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. 

The newest facility in Stampede’s portfolio resides in Bacon County, Georgia, and was rebuilt in 1992 after a fire at the previous building. The plant boasts 155,000 square feet, housing smoke and sous vide ovens that can support over 80 million pounds of capacity annually. This partnership has brought Stampede to have the largest sous vide cook capacity in North America. “It’s very rewarding to see just how far we have come in four short years since we decided to expand outside of Illinois. As we continue to see demand accelerate for [sous vide] cooked products at both [retail and foodservice customers,] this partnership positions Stampede to immediately address these opportunities for our valued customers[,]” Stampede COO Vito Giustino said. 

DL Lee, first founded in the early 1930s, has served Bacon County’s farmers and local communities with meat products through 5 generations of the Lee family. Fourth generation Lee family members lead the company today and continue its successful growth. They serve customers all over the Southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico. “We are very excited to bring our retail expertise and family values to the Stampede [team] and look forward to growing our brands nationally through this new partnership[,]” Dave Lee said. 

Brock Furlong, Stampede CEO and president, said, “This partnership is so much more than an acquisition. I have an abundant respect for the generations of Lee family members that have created this successful company. We feel our Stampede company values align with the Lee family’s values[ — ]both brands strongly committed to our customers[.] Together we can expand further and proudly serve our growing network of [foodservice and retail] customers.”

Stampede Meat is headquartered in Bridgeview, Illinois, with surrounding facilities in Oak Lawn and Bedford Park, both in Illinois. These facilities currently produce a wide variety of retail and menu offerings including chicken, beef, turkey, pork, vegetables, soups, prepared meals and alternative proteins for restaurants, top retailers, club stores, foodservice distributors, home delivery customers, military channels, airlines and other emerging segments.

Source: Stampede Meat; DL Lee & Sons