Overcoming Barriers between Supply & Demand

The Tendergrass Story

The Tendergrass story began in 1999 when John Paul Houston purchased a 60-acre farm in Floyd County, Virginia to raise his eight children on. What began as a way to produce wholesome pork, beef, turkey, and chicken for his family's own personal use gradually grew into a local meat production, processing, and distribution business. Initially based out of a 250-square-foot timber frame farm store, the family business grew year after year and their specialty meats were eventually available in local restaurants, universities, and an online meat shop.

In 2011, I married John Paul's daughter, Ann, and he asked me to become the General Manager of his farm and meat business. I immediately saw that developing economically sustainable sales and distribution channels for wholesome meat products like ours was both our biggest opportunity and our biggest challenge. Little did I know that this challenge was one that existed across nearly every part of the meat and poultry industry. Within two years, we evolved from a single local farm into a small network of family farms with national distribution. My goal was to overcome barriers between supply and demand and little by little, we began to achieve just that.

Today, Tendergrass serves manufacturers and brand owners as the leading meat and poultry supply management company for further processors in the US with a focus on specialized chicken programs. Please reach out to us today if you would like to learn more about how we can serve you.

At your service,

David Maren
CEO