This month’s cover story brought me to Crescent Springs in Northern Kentucky. (Note to readers: Do NOT call Northern Kentucky “the Cincinnati area” to anyone who’s from there.) I’d been to the region a couple times before, most recently for an AAMP convention several years ago. This time, it was to visit the Rice family at Blue Grass Quality Meats and talk about the company’s long, long history.
I’ve talked to many people who were the second, third or occasionally fourth generation in their family to run the family business. I’ve always loved that aspect of the small and mid-sized meat processing industry. While there’s nothing wrong with having a president with no family ties to a company, there’s a special passion that comes from carrying on a family tradition. I always enjoy talking with processors about their family’s history, and their pride is obvious.