UPDATE, Feb 18: Joel Huesby explains what went wrong (rapid expansion, literally) and what comes next (mending fences, figuratively, with the buying clubs) in the latest Thundering Hooves newsletter.
FURTHER UPDATE, April 9: Thundering Hooves closed in mid-March. Blue Valley Meats has taken over some of the distribution functions. Details here.
Let's just say the rumor is half true. We heard it from a restaurant manager who buys (or used to buy) beef from Walla Walla's Thundering Hooves. The company was going out of business, he told us over martinis over the weekend, and he was switching to Oregon Natural.Meats out of Eugene. So, not idle gossip, but not the whole story, either.
We reached Joel Huesby, founder of Thundering Hooves, on his cellphone; he confirmed that there will be cutbacks in the distribution system. The online buying club will continue, and the company expects it will continue to supply PCC markets in the Seattle area. But "the business is bleeding," he admitted. "It's very expensive to grass-feed cattle in winter," he said, explaining why margins are getting narrower.
The media, well, "they see three feathers and turn it into five chickens." Huesby promises to explain all in an upcoming newsletter. "I started this business, and I intend to see it through."
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