Cypress Valley Meat Co. was officially founded in 2010 in Vilonia, Ark., though its roots go back further as a wild-game processing operation run by founder Andy Shaw in a barn behind his parents’ home.

What began as a side business quickly grew. Shortly after formalizing the company, Shaw and his partners acquired their first inspected red-meat plant in Romance, Ark. The company went on to expand across multiple sites in Arkansas, with facilities in Hot Springs, Pottsville and Clinton, as well as a five-year management contract for a large plant in Quapaw, Okla.

Today, Cypress Valley Meat operates multiple inspected red-meat and poultry plants, serves 2,700 farmers and employs around 150 full-time staffers. Leadership has evolved from a founder-led model into a professional executive team that includes a CEO, CFO, COO, senior director of operations, director of food safety and director of human resources, positioning the company for continued growth.

Cypress Valley Meat’s customer base is remarkably diverse, CEO Brandon Dunn said.

"We process for individual farm families raising one or two animals per year for personal consumption all the way up to large direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands shipping to the lower 48 states," he said. "A significant segment consists of producers selling through farmers markets, local restaurants small online stores, cooperatives and institutional buyers such as schools."

Additionally, Cypress Valley Meat’s wild-game division serves between 1,500 to 2,500 hunters annually, Dunn said.

Cypress Valley Meat’s success is directly tied to the success of 2,700 independent farm businesses, Dunn said.

"That interdependence is both our greatest strength and our biggest challenge — it drives us to function as true strategic partners rather than just service providers," he said.

Employee Ownership Trust

Employee ownership was part of Shaw’s long-term founding vision as a way to reward the employees who help build the company.

"After Andy’s passing, the leadership and employee group unanimously committed to seeing that vision through," Dunn said.

To that end, Cypress Valley Meat formed an Employee Ownership Trust, providing a financial incentive for its employee owner base as the company grows in profitability.

This transaction, announced in November 2025, marks the creation of the first Employee Ownership Trust in Arkansas as well as the first EOT in the meat processing community.

"Rather than addressing a specific workplace issue, the Employee Ownership Trust was created to strengthen Cypress Valley Meat’s workplace culture, provide employees with meaningful governance influence and deliver future financial upside through profit-sharing," he said.

Animal welfare is another longtime core priority for Cypress Valley Meat.

"We are Animal Welfare Approved certified, and our team has been recognized by the USDA — they filmed a training video for new inspectors at our facility because of the high standard of our livestock handling and low-stress harvesting practices," Dunn said.

Among the value-added products and services Cypress Valley Meat offers are a wide range of fresh sausages (bratwurst, Italian, chorizo), bulk sausage, and cured/smoked products including bacon, hams and jerky.

"We continue to expand these offerings and are actively planning a dedicated ready-to-eat/value-added facility," Dunn said. "We’re seeing strong demand for organ meats, rendered tallow and beef fat — items that were once under-utilized."

Equipment and service upgrades

Custom packaging options are another way Cypress Valley Meats adds value for its customers.

"We were among the first plants in Arkansas to offer vacuum-sealed packaging and custom-printed labels featuring each farm’s branding," Dunn said. "Many customers have upgraded to rollstock packaging with colored backer cards for enhanced shelf presence."

Other facility and equipment upgrades at Cypress Valley Meat include their newest harvest floor, which features elevating platforms and an assembly-line layout that allows each worker to specialize in a single task — significantly improving both efficiency and ergonomics.

"We’ve also added rollstock packaging lines and a state-of-the-art programmable smoker with integrated chilling capability," Dunn said. "We continuously evaluate additional processing facilities that may become available in this consolidating market. We are also actively planning a dedicated ready-to-eat/value-added plant and see significant potential in filling gaps in institutional procurement — particularly school systems and other public entities looking for local, transparent, regeneratively raised protein."