Producer
Olympic Provisions
City: Portland, OR,
Website: https://www.olympiaprovisions.com
About Us
We've dreamt of consistently sourcing environmentally regenerative, humanely-raised pork from the Pacific Northwest. We value a "whole animal" approach to animal use, which led us to make pet treats from the leftover stuff humans aren't into but dogs love. We are on a quest to have a 100% small farm supported line of salami, sausage and other tasty treats by 2024, because we believe in the hard work, quality and attention to the animal that small farmers are all about.
Our dad didn't move to America until he was in his late twenties. He grew up in a tiny Greek village in the mountains where there was no choice but to do everything yourself. And so he was a natural entrepreneur: a farmer, beekeeper, distiller and butcher. He brought his ethos with him, and we grew up on three quarters of an acre outside of Salt Lake City. On Sunday afternoons, while our Mormon neighbors began their workweek, our lawn was awash with drunken Greeks dancing around a lamb on a spit. When not in the backyard we were at one of my parent's two restaurants: Queen One and Queen Two. They were typical Greek diners with specials like gyros, fresh spanakopita, and pastitisio (Greek lasagna). My parents once were called to the principal's office at school because we stunk of garlic so badly that the other kid's parents complained... so. damn. Greek.
At present, my whole family works at Olympia Provisions. If you came to our headquarters in SE Industrial Portland, you'd see my wife Jess operating our restaurants, my niece Alexis running our sales team and my sister, running the entire business (and running after me about our margins). Adjacent to our offices is our 38,000 square foot meat plant, where the entire gang is pulling thousands of pounds of meat from smokehouse to curing rooms, raw coolers to wrapping rooms. We do it all by hand and quality control everything from the moment animals arrive to the time salami ships out the door. We have a fabrication shop here, too, where we weld steel to build new meat racks, navigate repairs or build special items needed for our restaurants.
Our dad didn't move to America until he was in his late twenties. He grew up in a tiny Greek village in the mountains where there was no choice but to do everything yourself. And so he was a natural entrepreneur: a farmer, beekeeper, distiller and butcher. He brought his ethos with him, and we grew up on three quarters of an acre outside of Salt Lake City. On Sunday afternoons, while our Mormon neighbors began their workweek, our lawn was awash with drunken Greeks dancing around a lamb on a spit. When not in the backyard we were at one of my parent's two restaurants: Queen One and Queen Two. They were typical Greek diners with specials like gyros, fresh spanakopita, and pastitisio (Greek lasagna). My parents once were called to the principal's office at school because we stunk of garlic so badly that the other kid's parents complained... so. damn. Greek.
At present, my whole family works at Olympia Provisions. If you came to our headquarters in SE Industrial Portland, you'd see my wife Jess operating our restaurants, my niece Alexis running our sales team and my sister, running the entire business (and running after me about our margins). Adjacent to our offices is our 38,000 square foot meat plant, where the entire gang is pulling thousands of pounds of meat from smokehouse to curing rooms, raw coolers to wrapping rooms. We do it all by hand and quality control everything from the moment animals arrive to the time salami ships out the door. We have a fabrication shop here, too, where we weld steel to build new meat racks, navigate repairs or build special items needed for our restaurants.
Practices
This small but mighty NW Farmer Network uses the third-party Global American Partnership Certification to stay true to our guiding principles. GAP uses independent, third-party certifiers to audit farms and verify compliance to their standards of animal welfare every 15 months. Their team is composed of research scientists with backgrounds in production farming and animal husbandry. Their tiered program promotes continuous improvement across a variety of climates. All levels of GAP Certification prohibit both farrowing crates/gestation stalls and the use of antibiotics or hormones.
This enormous effort across the supply chain ensures we are getting the highest quality pigs from a new network of caring farmers, dedicated to environmental stewardship and humane animal treatment.
Now, after building this charcuterie business these last thirteen plus years, we're focused on a new mission: revolutionize our industry through a new sourcing model, focused on regenerative agriculture and building healthy communities. Listen, the industry is terrible, and I'll be the first to admit it - especially after having worked in it for so long. I knew I wanted to source pastured pork while supporting small farmers, but I didn't know how to build it to be financially sustainable. That's where Michelle excels - and with her help we created a business model that benefits all parties. Doing it all while curbing climate change and eating more delicious salami - it's a win-win situation for everyone!
Making charcuterie is not cooking: you're producing something, repeating the same motion in the same way with the same ingredients in hopes of perfectly rendering the same product over and over and over. Thousands per day. I have to ensure that millions of pounds are perfectly identical and that we utilize the entire animal (thus the launch of our Dog Treats). Over the course of the year we make one, maybe two new products. And they have to be amazing. What keeps me going in the day-to-day is the fact that I am always getting better, finding small efficiencies that make the process easier and the product better. I'm not a master, and I never will be. It's the pursuit of it that I love: making a glorious thing with base elements of pork, fine sea salt and technique. I hope you enjoy these products as much as I enjoy the opportunity to continually improve upon them.
This enormous effort across the supply chain ensures we are getting the highest quality pigs from a new network of caring farmers, dedicated to environmental stewardship and humane animal treatment.
Now, after building this charcuterie business these last thirteen plus years, we're focused on a new mission: revolutionize our industry through a new sourcing model, focused on regenerative agriculture and building healthy communities. Listen, the industry is terrible, and I'll be the first to admit it - especially after having worked in it for so long. I knew I wanted to source pastured pork while supporting small farmers, but I didn't know how to build it to be financially sustainable. That's where Michelle excels - and with her help we created a business model that benefits all parties. Doing it all while curbing climate change and eating more delicious salami - it's a win-win situation for everyone!
Making charcuterie is not cooking: you're producing something, repeating the same motion in the same way with the same ingredients in hopes of perfectly rendering the same product over and over and over. Thousands per day. I have to ensure that millions of pounds are perfectly identical and that we utilize the entire animal (thus the launch of our Dog Treats). Over the course of the year we make one, maybe two new products. And they have to be amazing. What keeps me going in the day-to-day is the fact that I am always getting better, finding small efficiencies that make the process easier and the product better. I'm not a master, and I never will be. It's the pursuit of it that I love: making a glorious thing with base elements of pork, fine sea salt and technique. I hope you enjoy these products as much as I enjoy the opportunity to continually improve upon them.