2F Awards

My name is Stephanie Shiba Martinez. I am a third generation Japanese American. I was Born and raised in Texas in the RGV. I am a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin and am a CPA. I was raised in an Agriculture Farming Family but I always had a passion for horses and cattle so I married my High School Sweetheart, Felo and we moved to his family ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, in 1988 where we have raised our children and lived for the past 33 years. My dream was to become a professional cowgirl cattlewoman. I have learned to ride a horse, rope and raise cattle and have become stewards of this Texas Land.

Felo is a fourth generation Cattleman raising commercial and registered cattle. He inherited the 2F Brand passed down to him which was established in 1927 when his Grandfather Felix Flores Bought Rancho Santa Fe. We have worked hard to keep Rancho Santa Fe as a working Cattle ranch and will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2027.

We have been raising commercial cattle since 1984 on Rancho Santa Fe. In 2010 we implemented certified Akaushi Wagyu genetics into our breeding program to improve the carcass merit to South Texas Beef. This Breed adds superior health benefits in addition to a rich buttery flavor. Akaushi Beef is higher in monounsaturated fat and contains more Omega-3s which lowers the risk of Diabetes, Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure. We opened a State Inspected Beef Processing Plant located on Rancho Santa Fe in 2018. We named our Beef Distributing Company Felito’s Finest LLC DBA 2F Akaushi Beef in memory of our first son, Felix Tadeo Martinez. It seemed fitting to have the 2F represent our ancestors and carry on the memory of our precious Angel Felito. and a Federal Grant Inspection number. Our HACCP and Sanitation Programs are in compliance on the State and Federal level. We are the only facility in the RGV that holds both numbers. Our Ranch is totally integrated to produce, raise, feed, process and distribute our cattle from ranch to table but we do not have a Harvest Floor implemented in our program. Finding a Federal Facility close to us that can harvest our fat cattle is a Huge Challenge that we face today. The closest facility that operates under federal grant inspection is in Corpus Christi.

In August 2021 we won First Place in HEB Quest for Texas Best out of 1300 Contestants. We showcased our ground Beef. We are so Grateful, Thankful, and Honored to be recognized by HEB and cannot wait for our Heart Healthy Beef to be on their shelves across Texas. We are predicting that we will be launching our 2F Akaushi Beef in HEB at the end of February.

We are a family owned and operated Cattle Business where we are Totally Integrated producing, raising, feeding, processing and distributing our wagyu beef from our ranch to your table. We had to split up duties where Felo took charge of the cattle

production and feeding and I run the processing facility under state and federal inspection and distribute our beef to local restaurants, households and online where you can shop at www.2FAkaushibeef.com. Our Daughter, Alyssa and son in law Jason play a big part of our operation on the production and marketing side. Alyssa and I still participate in the cattle roundups where I love being back in the saddle!

For many years we have worked countless hours producing, raising, and backgrounding our cattle and as beef prices kept rising in grocery stores the cattle prices continued to go the opposite. They kept declining because they are being controlled by the large packers in the US. Unless you have outside income to support your cattle business you cannot make ends meet. We decided by totally integrating this ranch we can change a negative into a positive. The average producer is over 59 years old and we feel it is our duty to educate, encourage and provide the opportunity to our youth so that we can sustain Texas Land Producing Texas Products.

As our customer data base grows we are currently expanding our facility. We are currently getting ready for our HEB Launch which is going to a major impact on our numbers. We are also working with the Texas Agriculture Department to expand Texas Products Globally. We will be travelling to Cancun with TDA this coming week and together in February we will be attending Gulfood which is the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade exhibition in Dubai to promote Texas 2F Akaushi Beef.

Akaushi is a Japanese Breed. It is one of the 4 Wagyu Breeds from Japan. Our 2F Akaushi beef contains a higher ratio of Monounsaturated fat lowering the risk of high blood pressure, cholesterol, and Diabetes. It has a rich buttery flavor from the consistent marbling content.

All Cattle that we put into our beef program are born, raised and fed under our care where we personally oversee our entire operation from start to finish. We do not administer and antibiotics, hormones or feed any animal by products EVER. All our cattle are DNA Certified Akaushi where we guarantee all beef cuts are Certified Akaushi.