The hype surrounding Trey Lewis? new store in Monkton is no bull.
He?s banking on getting health-obsessed consumers to try what he calls a leaner and tastier meat bred and sold at his new store in north Baltimore County: buffalo.
“Bison meat is better for you than skinless chicken,” Lewis said. “Everyone?s doctor tells them they can?t have red meat anymore, but they can have all the buffalo they want.”
Lewis said he has already established a devoted clientele at Gunpowder Bison and Trading Company, a retail store he opened in January, where he also breeds more than 42 bison ? some as big as 2,500 pounds. A 6-foot electronic fence shields onlookers from the herd on Monkton Road, and they are a rare sight amid the usual horse, cows and sheep in the rural community.
Agriculture experts are calling buffalo the meat of the future, and slaughtering of USDA-approved buffalo is up 25 percent from this time last year, according to the National Bison Association.
Health experts say buffalo meat has significantly less fat and cholesterol compared to beef and contains more iron.
But Lewis said sales are in the taste, which is slightly sweeter and richer than beef. Many can?t tell the difference, he said.
“The meat is a little more expensive, but it?s a specialty thing,” said customer Denise Midei. “You want to be able to tell people you?re serving buffalo.”
Lewis, the owner of a farm construction company, and his family grow corn and soybeans, but were was looking for something “different” to raise. They traveled to local animal shows, shopping for potential profits in emus and alpacas.
“We saw the bison and thought that would be really different and neat,” he said.
The store, designed to look like an antique barn overlooking acres of ponds and fields, is stocked with cuts of buffalo meat, buffalo-skin shoes and belts, spices, cookbooks, marinades and spices.
It?s also selling buffalo fur hats and scarves and toys. And buffalo jerky.
“My son just loves the jerky,” Midei said. “I actually went over there yesterday to get jerky for his Easter basket!”
