Location: Urbana, Mo.
Owners: Adam and Becca Roberts
History: Adam Roberts grew up in the livestock industry. His family ran feeder cattle, in addition to operating Roberts Brothers Livestock Auction in Bolivar, Mo. A hunter, Adam processed his deer, as well as deer for family. In high school, be was a member of his FFA meats team, and realized he liked the meat industry.
“I went to Eastern Oklahoma (State College) for its two-year program,” Adam said. “It covered everything from slaughter to fabrication of retail cuts.”
He started his processing career in McKinney, Texas, processing grass-fed Wagyu or Kobe beef, pasture-raised pork and other locally-produced meats. After a couple of years, he returned to Missouri and managed the meat department of a store in Polk County. In 2018, a processing facility in Urbana, Mo., became available, and Adam and his wife Becca took a chance.
“We both quit our jobs and jumped knee-deep in and never looked back,” Adam said. “We’ve been extremely blessed.”
Products and services: Roberts Custom Processing offers custom processing of beef, pork, lamb and goat. They also have a small line of retail cuts, including bacon, hamburger and sausages.
“We try to have our own specialty, house-made sausages,” Adam said. “When the weather is warm, we will fire up the smoker and do chicken breasts, St. Louis-style ribs, baby backs and then our bratwurst.”
They have several brat lines, with the most popular being mango/habanero. All meats are cryovaced, which allows for shorter thawing times.
They also help customers find buyers for half or whole animals prior to processing.
Future Plans: Adam and Becca hope to expand their business in the coming years, eventually building a new, updated facility.
Part of their five-year plan is to also open a specialty meats store in Bolivar, Mo., that will offer “high-end” meats and other products, such as Wagyu.
Business Philosophy: “We pride ourselves on doing one thing at a time,” Becca said. “That way we know nothing has gotten mixed in with your meat and you get your meat. We take our time to do it right for our customers.”
“We want to push for quality, not quantity in our business,” Adam added. “We want to do a little better than the other guy out there. We want to ensure our customers are repeat customers.”
