Local, farm-fresh meat is becoming easier to access in Milaca with the construction and planned opening of its newest meat-processing facility and retail store.
The full-service Milaca Meats will provide locally raised meat from processing to smoking to retail all under one roof once its doors open, with the retail side expected to open in spring 2025.
“We will have processing, wholesale, and retail options. We are going to take mostly beef and pork,” co-owner of Milaca Meats Sam Johnson said. “We will have the capacity to do about 20 full beef a week. We make all of our own sausages, bacons, and hams here in our smokehouses. A lot of our product that’s here in the retail is stuff that we either raise or are local.”
Once completed, the facility will have a 24-foot meat case fully stocked everyday with fresh-meat cuts, smoked products and, potentially, fresh seafood.
One of the biggest priorities for the Johnson family with Milaca Meats is to provide locally raised meat options from local farmers.
“On our processing side, we are going to prioritize our local farmers first. We want to prioritize our local food security and local farmers first and foremost, and then everyone else will fall behind them. We’re for the small guy here, that’s who we are,” Johnson said. “There’s no way that we can ensure that 100% of what we bring in is local, but we’re going to clearly identify what is and what isn’t. So, people know that they can come here and get clean beef, pork or chicken options.”
With all of the processing, smoking and sale of the meats under one roof, Johnson hopes to streamline and better ensure food safety with its products.
“We do everything on site. Processing is on site, smokehouse is on site, retail is on site. It’s all under one roof. It allows us to maximize food safety,” Johnson said. “You can track what you’re buying through this building all the way to the farmer, which is truly unique.”
But beef, pork and chicken are not the only meats Milaca Meats is willing to process. The facility hopes to have the processing side of the business ready to go for rifle opener this year in time to process deer for local hunters.
“We’re hoping, if we can get everything done here, to take some deer for rifle opener, but that’s going to be really tight,” Johnson said. “My goal is for fishing opener 2025 to be fully open and ready to go to catch all of that spring traffic coming by here.”
“The plan is for a phased opening. So, hopefully we’ll be able to start with some deer and then be able to do some other processing this winter. The retail will open in the spring,” said co-owner Ali Johnson, who is Sam Johnson’s wife.
The idea for Milaca Meats was born during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Johnson family struggled to find somewhere to process their beef. The family then began thinking of ways they could sell their products locally.
With the support of the City of Milaca and Mayor Dave Dillan, the Johnson family was able to build on their idea and bring it to life.
“Starting in COVID and beyond and through, we had nowhere to process our beef,” Sam Johnson said. “We raise our own beef, and we wanted to buy a small property along Highway 169 for Highway 23 to sell our own beef products. But then it got to be the question, ‘where can we consistently process it?’”
Sam later went looking at different city-owned properties in Milaca with Dillan when they came across the site the Johnson’s ended up purchasing, located in Milaca Junction next to Subway.
“I found this property while driving around with Dave Dillan, and he brought it to the city council so we could purchase it, and after that everything just started falling into place,” Sam Johnson said. “Dave really helped to push us along, and the city had been wonderful to work with, they’ve been fully supportive. Without their quick cooperation working with us, this never would’ve happened.”
The Johnson family wanted to build a place to give back to the community and have a place for their family to work together.
“At the core, we just love Milaca, we love this community and we knew we wanted to do something here locally,” Ali Johnson said. “Now, we’re raising boys, and hopefully more kids, and just wanted to be involved in the community and have something to do as a family.”
Sam Johnson is a Milaca native and grew-up in the Foreston area. He and Ali currently live in Foreston with their two small children, Junior and Duke.
The Johnsons purchased the land in July 2023 and spent almost a year in the planning phase for the facility. Construction on Milaca Meats began this past spring and is currently still underway.
When Milaca Meats is ready to fully open, the Johnsons are planning for a big grand opening event to bring the community together.
“It’ll be a big day, it’ll be a big party with live music, food, tours … just an introduction so people can get to know us and what we’re up to and to have fun,” Sam Johnson said. “Everything we do will be family friendly.”
Once open, Milaca Meats hopes to host family-friendly events on holidays like Labor Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, including barbecue competitions.
“We’re just really excited. We know that there’s a lot of excitement and buzz, and I’m excited to finally open and show people that we’re ready for the challenge,” Sam Johnson said.
“We’re just so thankful, too, just with how the city has helped us and how the community is already rallying around us, the support,” Ali Johnson said. “We’re excited, but we’re nervous, too. So, all the support already has kept us going.”
Milaca Meats is currently hiring meat cutters and a worker to oversee products and the smokehouse. Hiring for the retail side will take place closer to the facility’s opening. Eventually, the facility will have 12 full-time employees and 10 part-time employees.
Milaca Meats is currently running a T-shirt sale and raffle until the last Saturday of September. The facility will be open on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 9 a.m. to noon selling T-shirts that come with a raffle ticket to be entered to win a free quarter of beef.
Once the sale closes, the drawing will take place, and the winner will be announced.
Sam Johnson is a Milaca native and grew-up in the Foreston area. He currently lives in Foreston with wife Ali Johnson and their two small children, Junior and Duke.
To learn more about Milaca Meats visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560524006055.
Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com
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