Iverstine Family Farms, a Kentwood-based family farm that’s been a staple of the Red Stick Farmer’s Market in downtown Baton Rouge since 2011, announced plans this morning to open a full-service butcher shop and smokehouse in a Perkins Road retail development that is expected to be completed during the summer.
Iverstine Farms Butcher will offer a variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised Berkshire pork, chicken, holiday turkeys and lamb from its farm, as well as cured and smoked sausages, bacon and ham from its onsite smokehouse, the Iverstine family says in a news release.
“The butcher shop is going to allow us to offer more options to existing patrons while giving us greater access to customers who were unable to catch us at the farmer’s market on Saturdays,” owner Galen Iverstine says in a statement. “Interacting with our customers is a very important part of what we do; we now will have a space where customers can come find out exactly how we raise our animals, get suggestions for the perfect cut of meat for their dinner, and have it cut to their exact specifications.”
Iverstine says the family has the permits and the project should break ground soon. If all goes according to schedule, the butcher shop should open around early to mid-July.
Iverstine Farms Butcher will occupy a 1,656-square-foot space in a 3,766-square-foot infill development dubbed Aldrich Market, led by local developers Chad Ortte, Robert Svendson and Chris Landry. The development will be located at 4765 Perkins Road, adjacent to the intersection of Glasgow Avenue, where Rouzan is being developed.
“We purchased the land in May of 2014 and have been working on plans since,” Ortte says in a statement. “We are excited to be coming out of the ground at the same time as Rouzan and look forward to further investing in the area to help inspire another vibrant part of the city.”
Ortte says he is looking for a business for the 2,000-square-foot space, and he wants someone that is going to complement the butcher shop, like a soft goods store. He is not looking for a restaurant or foodservice business.
The Charles Carter Construction Company is the contractor and will handle construction.
—Ryan Broussard
