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"Organic" Park Slope Butcher Accused Of Selling Low-Grade Meat
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Jul 11, 2011
Modified Jul 11, 2011
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Photo via Union Market
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Jul 11, 2011
Modified Jul 11, 2011
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Union Market, the Brooklyn-based grocery chainlet that bills itself as offering "organic, local and all-natural products," is allegedly selling misleading bargain-bin meat in their butcher department, according to a story in this morning's Post—but now the Market's owner is firing back.
The story, quoting an unnamed meat supplier, claims that the store supplements their "high-end inventory with run-of-the-mill 'commodity meat'" that's not natural or antibiotic or hormone free. "Some of the stuff they order is the cheapest of the cheap—what a diner would serve," said the source, who offered invoices from the Market as proof. The butchers in the store continue to tout their offerings as all-natural, high-quality meat, says the source.
But owner Marko Lalic was incensed this morning, telling us that the claims are "totally unfounded—this whole thing is simply not true. Our entire meat program is very traceable." He ran down his list of suppliers for beef, pork and poultry, and explained that the three Markets have a centralized purchasing department that orders meat for all the stores—individual butchers don't call vendors to place orders themselves. "We shop in our own stores all the time," he said, adding that so far he's seen little blowback from his customers: "Our customers know us very well, and they know the quality of our product."
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butcher
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meat
union market
Jamie Feldmar
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