Palate Pleasers
“The products of that time were too processed, and we knew that eventually people would look for something more natural. Now there’s a trend toward more natural products. Our goal is to provide the best possible products and not take shortcuts to achieve it.”
keep them healthy and happy. occupational medicine services Mankato Clinic Urgent Care @ Adams Street is your provider of Occupational Medicine Services.
an employee oversees quality, including special requests from chefs. We also market additional pigs to commercial processors in neighboring states. An Owatonna employee handles orders, logistics and transport. Last year, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, my brother, Chris, and his wife, Rochelle, put together gift boxes of our branded pork products for individuals and large companies across the United States.” Compart said, “I work 60-plus hours a week. When I have time off, I take the phone and my laptop. It’s hard to ignore the phone when I’ve worked hard to make it ring. When we started, our philosophy was to have the best breeding stock available. In the ‘90s, we had a contract with a packer who said, ‘We’ll have to see what’s
available from our bigger producers before we’ll know if we can take your pigs next week.’ That reinforced the fact we needed to create a product the consumer wants and the packer wants to buy. We considered starting our program in the late ‘90s, but a consultant said the time wasn’t right, so rather than fight it, we waited for consumer push-back. The products of that time were too processed, and we knew that eventually people would look for something more natural. Now there’s a trend toward more natural products. Our goal is to provide the best possible products and not take shortcuts to achieve it.” Compart isn’t concerned about competition. “There’s a Berkshire line that also fits into ‘white tablecloth‘ restaurants, but their cost of production is higher, hence
Our staff will collaborate with you to help manage risk factors, keep your
Palate Pleasers
employees healthy and happy and get them back to work quickly and safely after an injury. No appointment is necessary for most examinations. Just walk in for prompt, professional service. For additional information call 507-385-4075 or visit www.mankatoclinic.com
Meaty Matters: Jim Compart • Past president, Nicollet County Pork Producers Association • Executive Board member, Minnesota Pork Producers Association (president for two terms)
Urgent Care Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Saturday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Graduate of a National Pork Producers program on communicating with legislators; has lobbied in St. Paul and Washington, D.C. • Member of Lions Club, Nicollet Chamber of Commerce, and Trinity Lutheran Church (Nicollet)