JENNA MAYER, the youngest of the Mayer’s Custom Meats clan, showcasing one of their 16 varieties of hand-made and in-house smoked bratwurst. Photo courtesy of Mayer’s Custom Meats
CATHY MAYER was the “heart” of Mayer’s Custom Meats until her passing in 2004, according to her daughter, Kelsi. Photo courtesy of Mayer’s Custom Meats. “heart” of Mayer’s Custom Meats until her passing in 2004, according to her daughter, Kelsi. Photo courtesy of Mayer’s Custom Meats
JEFF MAYER, owner of Mayer’s Custom Meats with his children, Jacob, Aly, Kelsi and Jenna. Photo courtesy of Mayer’s Custom Meats
MARTY BROSSEAU, original owner of Longhorn Pak, recently stopped by to visit with owner, Jeff Mayer, who purchased his storefront from Brosseau back in the summer of 1996. Photo courtesy of Mayer’s Custom Meats
LUAU PIG is a breeze for Mayer’s Custom Meats with decades of butcher experience. Shown here is son, Jacob Mayer, Jacob’s best friend who also works at Mayer’s, Daniel Benedict, (Uncle) Tom Mayer and owner, Jeff Mayer
MAYER’S CUSTOM MEATS recently celebrated 25 years servicing the community with a blow-out customer appreciation barbecue. Photo courtesy of Mayer’s Custom Meats
At the end of July, Mayer’s Custom Meats celebrated its 25th anniversary with a blowout barbecue to thank loyal customers for supporting this family-owned-and-operated business over the years.
What began as a favor to his father-in-law turned into a career shift for owner Jeff Mayer. Around 1984, Art and Marie Stephenson asked Jeff to help out in their Ridgefield store, Stephenson Meat Cutting, while he attended pharmaceutical school. According to his eldest daughter, Kelsi, he fell in love with meat cutting and sausage making, apprenticed under Art for five years and opened his own meat store in their two-car garage on July 25, 1989.
Along with his wife, Cathy, the two of them turned that garage space opportunity into a full-fledged meat market when Marty Brosseau, the owner of Longhorn Pak, sold his storefront on 72nd Avenue in 1996.
Over the years, the Mayer family has enjoyed great success in Clark County and endured some personal losses that have garnered an outpouring of community support that has not gone unnoticed.
In 2004, Cathy, wife to Jeff and mother of four young children, passed away. Kelsi was 13 when her mom died and has been touched over the years by the legacy Cathy left behind.
“She died of breast cancer and it took her pretty fast. I have random people who want to hug me just so they could hug her again. We have awesome customers. I can’t put it any other way,” Kelsi said.
A few months prior to Cathy’s death, the family lost their patriarch, Art, as well, though at 80 years old in November, his widow Marie is still going strong running Stephenson’s in Ridgefield.
As one of 10 siblings, Jeff’s had a lot of support. Kelsi shared that all her uncles have filtered through Mayer’s at one time or another and uncle Tom is his right hand man.
All of Jeff and Cathy’s children work in some capacity at Mayer’s. Jacob, 21, Aly, 19 and Jenna, 16 can all be found in the back or staffing the counter. Kelsi said they start working there at 16 and that it’s like a “rite of passage” in the family.
In fact, the friendly female faces is one of the things customers seem to really appreciate about Mayer’s, according to Kelsi. They have a lot of ladies who come in and will talk recipes with the gals and the other female staff have worked for Mayer’s so long that they’re considered family, as well.
Mayer’s specializes in custom-cutting and sausage making, but they have a full line of retail meats and their twice-baked potatoes are “insanely” popular. Tom was the creator of their flavored bratwurst, which they’ve been carrying for five years now. The 16 varieties are handmade by Jeff, Tom and Jacob and smoked in-house. Kelsi’s a fan of the cheddar and broccoli and the pineapple is hugely popular. They recently completed a Facebook contest to find their new flavor and the winner received 10 pounds of bratwurst for her chicken bacon ranch suggestion.
Things Kelsi grew up with tend to be her favorite like honey jerky and teriyaki pepperoni. Having been born to a butcher, her dad tells her that she and other young Mayer relatives teethed on pepperoni.
With all their years in a country community, Mayer’s provides a service and know-how that few grocery stores retain today. They work closely with several mobile farm slaughterers who will go out to a residence or farm, bring the meat in and Mayer’s will then call the customer to go over all the different cutting options, confirm an accurate order and package each cutting taking into consideration whether it will be used soon or freezer stored for an extended period. They’ve seen it all from beef, pork and elk to llamas, cougar and bear.
Pork at Mayer’s retail counter is supplied by Carlton Farms out of Carlton, OR, and all other meat comes from Western Boxed Meat in Portland.
The popularity of gluten-free foods and the Paleo Diet are trends Mayer’s strives to accommodate. Kelsi shared that if a customer has a diet preference or an allergy, they’ll scour the packaging with them to make sure they’re comfortable with the meats they choose.
If anyone missed the 25-year celebration barbecue, look for it next year. Kelsi said that it was such a success they’d like to turn it into an annual Customer Appreciation event.
“It was so cool to see people congratulate him (Jeff),” Kelsi said. “My dad’s the hardest worker. He doesn’t give himself enough credit. He’s a great dad. He’s such a good role model.”
Mayer’s Custom Meats is located at 12903 NE 72nd Ave., Vancouver. For more information, call (360) 574-2828 or connect with them on Facebook.
