CATEGORY LEADERSHIP AWARDS VEAL

Eventhough households can always return to dining out, more consumers are opting to prepare meals at home. Whether it’s a newfound passion for cooking or an attempt to save money on meals, suppliers are enabling this lasting preference by ensuring there is a variety of meats available at the store level. Veal suppliers in particular are making cuts accessible to shoppers that allow them to bring restaurant-quality cuts of veal home to cook in their kitchens and on their grills.

“Veal has always been recognized as a specialty protein, and for more than 75 years Catelli Brothers Family of Foods has provided customers the finest quality veal that is easy to prepare, highly versatile, great tasting, nutritious, tender and delicious,” said CEO Tony Catelli. “There is a ‘new’ veal industry today, and we must continually work to educate consumers that our animals are humanely raised in group housing, untethered and fed a healthy diet of both milk and grain. That our veal calves are raised to an average weight of 500-650 lbs. All Catelli Brothers veal is Halal. Many shoppers also need to learn how to prepare veal. To help achieve these goals, we built a robust recipe section on our website. The continued high traffic to this section—by both novice cooks and trained chefs —is proof that there is growing interest in veal as a protein option. Consumers are learning how to prepare a wide range of quick, easy and delicious veal dishes for any meal or occasion."

Strauss Brands' offering of veal is raised by family farmers rooted throughout the Midwest. "They have a passion for quality and a commitment to raising calves the right way," according to the company website. "The veal industry evolved by utilizing two primary by-products of the dairy industry —bull calves and whey."

As such, Strauss Brands buys Holstein bull calves from local dairies. The company partners with cheese manufacturers across the region to apply whey in its veal feed. Strauss Brands takes pride in the fact its network of family farmers have been endorsed by reputable animal welfare groups in addition to the American Veal Association, "making our veal not only delicious, but something you can feel good about."

Sustainability-focused initiatives have been top of mind for Catelli Brothers Family of Foods. "We are currently one of the many NAMI member companies committed to meeting the standards set by the NAMI Protein PACT," Catelli said.

Catelli Brothers offers a full variety of milk fed and grain fed veal. “It’s available, fresh, frozen, portioned controlled, breaded, seasoned, cooked and packaged in a variety of options such as MAP, VSP, Shrink Bag and Roll Stock,” Catelli said. “Our USDA HACCP-approved processing facility can fabricate to meet the needs of today’s operator/ consumer. To address the ongoing labor issues at store level our products can be delivered case ready, random weight or

Grocery Insight's 2023 Category Leadership Awards

fixed weight and pre-priced.”

The company has been identifying opportunities outside the veal category to complement its existing offerings. As a result, the company changed its name to Catelli Brothers Family of Foods around 18 months ago after acquiring a second US production facility in Sutton, MA. “This has enabled us to expand from providing veal and lamb into offering a wide variety of value-added marinated, seasoned, ready to cook and cook-in-the-bag products that include beef, chicken, pork and turkey,” Catelli explained. “This is in response to the marketplace. According to the 2023 Power of Meat study: in 2016, 37 percent of meat shoppers purchased value-added meat products sometimes or frequently. By 2023 that number increased to 67 percent. Consumers want variety and convenience and that’s why these value-added products are so in demand, especially among new shoppers.”

Catelli Brothers Family of Foods’ approach to leadership is a collaborative one. “Our management and employees continue to be very proud of the lifetime commitment to our company taking an active leadership role in the veal industry as members of both the NAMI and the American Veal Association,” Catelli said. “We have always worked together to produce products that everyone in the entire veal industry can be proud of every day. And I look forward to continuing our leadership role into the future.”