By 1808Delaware
The distance between an Ohio farm and a Delaware meat counter is about to become considerably shorter. We Got Meat opened its second retail market Wednesday, August 19, at 64 Coughlin Lane, Suite D. The new shop offers halal beef, lamb, goat and poultry, with much of the cutting and processing handled at the company’s own facility in Coshocton.
For shoppers, that means a supply chain built around Ohio livestock producers, one processing operation and stores owned by the same company.
A Market Chosen by Its Customers
The Delaware opening follows the company’s first retail location on Sawmill Road in Dublin. Owner Syed Raza Arif said Delaware was selected after the company discovered that customers from the area formed the second-largest geographic group shopping at the Dublin market.
Rather than waiting for those customers to continue driving south, We Got Meat is bringing its counter closer to them. The Delaware store has been arranged with coolers along the sides and a central register positioned in front of a display case filled with fresh cuts. Arif said the open design is intended to give customers a better look at what they are buying. The store’s planned selection extends beyond conventional butcher-shop staples. In addition to fresh chicken, beef, lamb and goat, the company offers steaks, roasts, beef bacon, marinated meats, custom cuts and halal deli products.
What Farm to Store Means Here
The company frequently describes its operation as “farm to fork,” but the route involves more than moving livestock from one company-owned pasture to one company-owned store. Nearby farmers, including Amish producers, raise animals for We Got Meat according to the company’s standards. The animals then move through the company’s Coshocton slaughter and processing facility before the meat is cut, packaged and transported to its retail counters or shipped to online customers.
That arrangement gives We Got Meat control over most of the chain after the livestock leaves the producer. It reduces the number of processors, wholesalers and distributors standing between the farm and the customer.
The model closely resembles what the U.S. Department of Agriculture describes as a regional meat supply chain, in which multiple farmers provide animals to a branded company that manages processing, distribution and marketing. For shoppers, the principal attraction is traceability. They can identify not only where the meat was processed, but also the region in which the animals were raised.
From an Online Idea to an Ohio Operation
Arif’s path to the meat business began after he moved from Karachi, Pakistan, to the United States in 2014. He had worked in filmmaking and later joined a video production company, but retained an interest in meat cutting and saw that many Midwestern families had difficulty finding dependable halal meat delivery. He founded We Got Meat in 2016 as an online halal retailer working with local vendors. The company opened its first physical store in Dublin in late 2019.
COVID-19 arrived shortly afterward. As customers shifted toward online ordering and home delivery, the business grew rapidly. Increased demand, particularly for fresh goat meat, eventually persuaded Arif that the company needed greater control over processing. That led to the opening of We Got Meat Farms in Coshocton in spring 2023. The facility sits on more than five acres at 19799 County Road 7, positioned near rural livestock producers and roughly between the Columbus and Cleveland markets. The processing operation began primarily with goats and lambs before expanding into poultry and beef. By June, it was handling approximately 600 chickens, 110 goats and lambs, and at least one cow during a typical week, according to Coshocton Tribune reporting.
The company also processes animals for private customers from Coshocton and surrounding counties.
Building Capacity Behind the Counter
The Coshocton facility originally included a barn capable of holding between 50 and 60 animals and a roughly 2,000-square-foot main building with a processing room, walk-in cooler, storage areas and slaughter floor. Recent additions include expanded office space, a larger driveway for trucks, a reception area and a retail pickup point for meat and eggs. The Delaware store is expected to increase activity at the plant by approximately one additional processing day each week.
The Coshocton slaughterhouse is certified by Halal Monitoring Services, while the company describes its processing operation as USDA-inspected. Halal preparation follows Islamic dietary requirements governing how animals are handled and slaughtered.
That certification is essential for Muslim customers, but the company’s farm-connected model also speaks to a wider audience interested in locally sourced food, identifiable producers and fewer stops between processing and purchase.
A New Counter in Delaware
The arrival of We Got Meat gives Delaware a specialty meat market that is both culturally distinctive and closely connected to Ohio agriculture. Its story begins with farmers raising animals in and around Coshocton, continues through a processing plant operated by the retailer itself, and ends behind a glass counter on Coughlin Lane. For We Got Meat, Delaware is not simply the next pin on an expansion map. It is a market created in response to customers who were already making the trip.
Image by Reinhard Thrainer from Pixabay
