In the Spring of 2006, Mike and Melanie Seals took a leap of faith and planted a strawberry field. Since then, they have expanded their operations and opened Country Roads Meat Market. Their journey has been full of ups and downs, but their strong foundation of faith has kept them steady.
Beginnings
For 17 years, the Seals family ran a produce business out of their farm in Moravia, IA. This produce business allowed Melanie to work from home while raising her two sons. Through this business, they sold products at farmersā markets and to local grocery stores and restaurants. Winter proved difficult as a produce business owner, so Mike worked various side jobs throughout the winter to provide a steady income.
One of Mikeās side jobs was cutting firewood, and one of his customers was the meat locker in Moravia. One day, Mike pulled into the meat locker to buy beef sticks and was presented with the opportunity to learn the butchering process. Mike took on this opportunity and gained the necessary skills that would one day help him open Country Roads Meat Market.
For 11 years, Mike continued helping out at the locker in the winter. With the produce business still up and running, Mike and Melanie wanted to find a way to expand the business.
Their next opportunity arose when the locker in Centerville needed assistance. Mike and Melanie stepped in to help keep the locker open throughout the winter until it was eventually closed in February.
Shortly after the locker closed, Mike received a call from Mike Perkins, the owner of a meat locker in Blakesburg, IA. Mr. Perkins was looking to retire and wanted Mike to help him finish out his time. Once retired, he sold off his equipment to Mike and Melanie so they could open their own locker.
Getting SBDC Assistance
Before building and opening Country Roads Meat Market, Mike and Melanie Seals sought assistance from the Indian Hills Small Business Development Center in Ottumwa, IA, in April 2022. Here, they worked with business counselor Darrell Sarmento.
Darrell assisted in fine-tuning their business plan, reviewing ideas, and exploring financing options. With his assistance, Mike and Melanie were able to find multiple sources of financing that they needed to build and open their locker.
After their positive experience with the SBDC, Mike and Melanie referred their son Matthew to Darrell at the Indian Hills SBDC. Here, Darrell and Matthew worked together to get his construction business up and running. After meeting with Darrell, Matthew was able to pour all of the needed concrete throughout the building process of the locker.
Country Roads Meat Market
In May 2023, Mike and Melanie officially opened Country Roads Meat Market. Striving to provide local products, the market sets itself apart from others.
As a state-inspected locker, Country Roads Meat Market has a wide range of regulations and standards to meet. Every Tuesday, a state inspector comes into the market and inspects the meat at all stages of processing. Once approved, the meat is sold to customers.
One of their largest services is custom processing. Customers can schedule beef, hogs, lamb, goats, and buffalo for custom processing throughout the year. In addition to year-round custom processing, the locker also provides deer processing.
When asked about their customer base, Melanie said, āA lot of people have never had the chance to taste what home-raised, locally processed beef tastes like.ā Customers value knowing where their food comes from. Because of this, when customers walk into Country Roads Meat Market, they can read where and who the meat came from for the day.
Uniquely, all of their products have been sourced locally or made from home-raised beef or pork.
āWe have tried to create the feeling of an āold-time butcher shop,āā said Melanie.
By prioritizing local sourcing of products, Mike and Melanie have grown a loyal customer base spanning multiple states. Melanie said, āPeople come in and say, āYou just didnāt know how bad we needed this.āā
A Family Operation
At Country Roads Meat Market, multiple members of the Seals family can be found fulfilling different roles – most times more than one at a time. Mike and Melanie, along with their sons, have tackled just about every role that comes with owning a locker and running a business.
When asked about the importance of her children being involved in the business, Melanie said that it was āone of the best decisions we could have made because our kids have seen every last struggle, every last tear, every last joy, and just the work that goes into it.ā
Mike and Melanieās parents have also played a critical role in the Country Roads Meat Market operation. Throughout most of Melanieās life, her parents have run their own businesses ā from a dairy farm to a trucking company. Mikeās parents owned a locker in Rathbun for some time and gained valuable experience they have since passed on to Mike and Melanie.
Their wisdom and experience have been pivotal in times of uncertainty. When it came time for building, Melanieās parents allowed Mike and Melanie to have one acre of land to build the locker on.
Now that the locker is open, Melanieās father can often be found working on the cooling systems for the freezer and cooler, and Mikeās mother has stepped in to help with wrapping and packaging when needed. Mikeās father has since passed, but his wisdom is still flowing throughout the business.
Additional family members ā nieces and nephews ā have also stepped in to fulfill different roles at the locker.
Growing as a Business
When asked how they grew the meat market so quickly, Melanie credited it to the 17 years spent as a produce business owner. Throughout that time, she and Mike met many people and grew a large customer base.
Their commitment to quality and hard work ethic throughout both businesses has also kept customers returning.
In the future, Melanie said that they plan to ākeep on keeping on.ā Currently, they are booked out for custom processing until May 2025, and their list keeps growing. To account for this growth, they plan to expand their freezer.
Inside the storefront, Country Roads Meat Market will continue highlighting local products. By doing this, Melanie hopes to āgive people the chance to have the successes that they want to have.ā
Giving Back
Country Roads Meat Market takes pride in being able to give back to its community. Some of their recent contributions include donating the ground beef for a Veteranās Day dinner at Lucileās – a local restaurant, supporting the Appanoose County Fair, and donating a hog to Moravia shooting sports. Whenever they can, Mike and Melanie enjoy giving back to their community.
Each month, GoPitchTV, features one of the farmers that Country Roads Meat Market buys meat from.
Fun Fact: Lucileās restaurant buys all their ground beef from Country Roads Meat Market. This year, Lucileās made the top 10 for Iowaās 2024 Best Burger Contest.
Melanieās Advice
When asked what advice she would give someone looking to start or own a business, Melanie said, āItās not going to be easy. If it was, everyone would do it.ā Running your own business takes a lot of motivation, but donāt quit.
āYou will think that when you did your business plan, you thought of everything, but you did not.ā Something will always come up and some days will feel like a failure ā but keep going.
Finally, Melanie advises to āset strong standards and moral values and do not waiver from them.ā Stay true to what you believe, and be firm in your foundation.
The Seals Family