Arapahoe Meat

What Arapahoe Meat does

Arapahoe Meat Company is a privately held, family-owned meat processing business headquartered in Lafayette, Colorado, operating from a single facility at 12420 Arapahoe Road since 1989. The company processes domestic livestock (beef, pork, lamb, goat, and alpaca), provides wild game processing services for hunters (deer, elk, bison, bear, moose, pronghorn, mountain lion, wild boar, and upland game birds), and operates a retail storefront selling fresh and frozen cuts, sausages, jerky, and smoked meats. It also runs an event catering business under the "Arapahoe Hog Roasters" sub-brand, offering whole hog roasting, smoked meats, and cooker rentals for gatherings of 5 to 120+ people, alongside ancillary trailering services for livestock transport.

The company employs 11-50 people and operates in Boulder County on the Colorado Front Range, serving individual consumers, hunters, event hosts, and local retail shoppers. The business holds a Department of Agriculture certification, uses traditional butchery methods with on-premises hickory hardwood smoking and curing, and provides detailed online cutting instruction forms for custom beef, hog, and lamb processing. There is no e-commerce, no online ordering, and no delivery service; all transactions occur at the physical storefront or via phone.

Revenue is generated through per-unit and per-pound processing fees (e.g., $130 harvest fee plus $1.05/lb for standard beef processing, $85 for hog processing, $75 for lamb/goat), event catering packages priced by hog weight and party size, and retail meat sales at prices set in-store. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via local word-of-mouth, community reputation, and organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram). A 10% discount is offered to law enforcement and first responders on retail meats. The company maintains a 4.5/5 customer rating across 21 reviews and has been in continuous operation for 35+ years with no disclosed external funding, M&A activity, or geographic expansion.

Name

Arapahoe Meat

Legal name

Arapahoe Meat Company

Website

https://arapahoemeatco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Arapahoe Meat Company is a family-owned, Lafayette, Colorado-based meat processor serving Boulder County since 1989 with custom slaughter, wild game processing, retail meat sales, and hog roasting catering for individual consumers, hunters, and event hosts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Meat Processing

NAICS

Animal Slaughtering and Processing (3116), Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering (311611)

SIC

Meat Packing Plants (2011), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro primary industry

Further Processing (Cooked, Smoked, Cured & Deli Meats) (AFAKALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hog Slaughtering (Harvest & Evisceration) (AFANABAA), Pork Further Processing (Cured, Smoked, Ham, Bacon) (AFANABAE)

Keywords

• Custom meat processing
• Wild game processing
• Retail meat sales
• Hog roasting catering
• Butchery services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lafayette

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Meat Processing Services: Fee-based custom slaughter and processing of domestic livestock (beef, pork, lamb, goat, alpaca) and wild game. Processing fees are charged per animal or per pound based on hanging weight. Additional charges apply for specialty products, curing, smoking, and fat additions.
2. Retail Meat Sales: Direct sales of pre-cut retail meats including beef, pork, chicken, and sausages from their storefront. Products are frozen upon cutting for freshness. No online ordering - pricing requires phone inquiry.
3. Hog Roasting Catering: Whole hog roasting services for events with fresh or cooked options. Cooker rentals available for customer use. Requires 10-14 day advance notice and 50% deposit.
4. Smoked Meats and Prepared Foods: Sale of smoked meats (pulled pork, beef brisket, shredded chicken) in 2lb or 5lb trays, ribs, and side dishes for events. Also retail jerky and sausages.
5. Wild Game Processing: Processing services for wild game including deer, bear, elk, moose, bison, pronghorn, wild boar, and upland game birds. Cash-only payment for wild game orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Arapahoe Meat Company is a family-owned, USDA-certified meat processing facility that provides custom slaughter, butchery, and cut-to-specification processing for domestic livestock (beef, hogs, lamb, goat, alpaca) and wild game (deer, elk, bison, bear, moose, pronghorn, wild boar). It also operates a retail storefront selling fresh and frozen cuts, sausages, jerky, and smoked meats, and runs a hog roasting/catering service (Arapahoe Hog Roasters) for events.

Product overview

Arapahoe Meat Company operates as a locally-owned meat processing business serving Boulder County, Colorado since 1989. The company offers four interconnected service lines: Custom Meat Processing (slaughter and butchery for beef, pork, lamb, goat, and alpaca), Wild Game Processing (for hunting harvest including deer, elk, bison, bear, and more), Retail Meats (direct consumer sales of fresh and frozen cuts, sausages, jerky, and chicken), and Hog Roasting/Catering Services (whole hog roasting for events with side dishes and smoker rentals). The business also offers trailering services for livestock transport. All services are processed at the Lafayette, CO facility with a 5-day pickup policy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Arapahoe Hog Roasters: Whole hog roasting service for events including cooker rentals and fully cooked hog pickup options.

Products and services

• Retail Meats Direct in-store sales of fresh and frozen retail meat products including premium beef cuts (filet mignon, ribeye, T-bone, brisket), pork products, linked sausages, chicken, beef jerky, and smoked meats purchased by walk-in customers at the Lafayette, Colorado storefront.
• Custom Meat Processing Fee-based custom slaughter, butchery, and processing for beef, hogs, lamb, goat, and alpaca supplied by customers (ranchers, livestock owners). Customers specify cutting instructions, packaging, sausage/jerky production, and specialty products through dedicated cutting forms.
• Wild Game Processing Processing of hunter-harvested wild game including deer, bear, elk, bison, moose, pronghorn, mountain lion, wild boar, and upland game birds, with specialty sausage and jerky options. Cash-only payment; appointment-based drop-off.
• Hog Roasting and Catering Services Event catering service (Arapahoe Hog Roasters) offering fresh or fully cooked whole hog roasting, smoked meats (pulled pork, brisket, shredded chicken), ribs, side dishes, and cooker rentals for events ranging from 5 to 120+ people. Requires 10-14 day advance notice and 50% deposit.
• Trailering Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.5-star average customer rating from 21 reviews

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tyson Foods: Vertically integrated meat and prepared foods producer with beef, pork, chicken, and branded refrigerated products. Adjacent incumbent operating in the same broad protein-processing space as Arapahoe Meat but at national scale.
• Cargill Meat Solutions: Diversified agribusiness with significant U.S. beef and further-processed meat operations. Overlaps with Arapahoe Meat in slaughter and further processing, but serves national foodservice and retail rather than local direct customers.
• JBS USA: Largest U.S. meat processor operating beef, pork, and prepared foods plants nationally. Operates broadly in the same meat processing category as Arapahoe Meat but at industrial scale and across multiple protein categories.

Direct peers

• Buck's Custom Meats: Small custom meat processor offering slaughter, cutting, smoking, and specialty sausage production for individual customers. Comparable scale and service breadth to Arapahoe Meat's domestic livestock processing.
• Hudson Meat Market: Local meat market offering custom processing alongside retail cuts and specialty products. Comparable hybrid retail-plus-custom-processing business model to Arapahoe Meat.
• Lorentz Meats: Family-owned custom meat processor and sausage manufacturer offering slaughter, further processing, and retail smoked/specialty products. Closely comparable to Arapahoe Meat in service mix, family ownership profile, and specialty product focus.
• Diamond Custom Meats: Custom meat processor providing slaughter, processing, and sausage-making services to local livestock owners. Similar single-site, multi-species custom processing model to Arapahoe Meat.
• Cinderella Custom Meat Processing: Custom slaughterhouse and meat processor serving individual livestock owners with cutting, wrapping, and sausage/jerky add-ons. Directly comparable business model to Arapahoe Meat's custom processing service line.

Emerging players

• Locker 417 / Specialty Locker Plants: Independent custom lockers and small meat processors expanding direct-to-consumer processing and specialty product lines in regional U.S. markets. Comparable emerging custom-processor model competing for the same hunter and livestock-owner segments.

Regional players

• Mountain Meat Market: Independent regional meat market and custom processor serving Colorado mountain communities. Comparable service mix (custom processing plus retail) to Arapahoe Meat but operating in a different Colorado region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/127997923890897
• Instagraminstagram.com/arapahoemeat_co
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arapahoe-meat-company

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Arapahoe Meat