Our Proud History

Leo Miedema holding son Brent Miedema

 

The Miedemas know a thing or two about meat

If there’s anything we’ve learned from serving thousands of customers over many decades—it’s that quality matters most. Call us old school, but our passion for traditional butchery has been passed down through several generations. You could say it’s even in the bones of our building!  

The Embro location has been in the Miedema family since 1982, but 129 Huron Street goes way back—it’s been a butcher shop since at least the 1920s. In the fall of 1982, the business was sold to Leo and George Miedema—two brothers who had grown up working in their own family’s butcher shop, L. Miedema & Sons, near Waterford, Ontario. Though George passed away in 1983, Leo and his family have continued to operate the business together.

 

Today, Miedema’s Meat Market in Embro is operated by Leo’s son Brent and his wife Melissa, with both Leo and his son Greg working there as well. They operate as a retail butcher shop, offering fresh cuts of beef, pork, and chicken, plus cured and smoked meat, but also as a full-service abattoir where farmers can bring their animals to be processed.

A long time has passed since our beginnings, but our values have remained the same. Your satisfaction is our priority. As a family-owned, independent butcher shop, we’re committed to working with local farmers to bring our customers only the best quality meats around. And that’s a promise.

 

Brent Miedema and his family today

 

A week in the life of Miedema’s Meat Market staff

  • Receive animals and process the pigs.

  • Break down and cut the pigs butchered on Monday. Continue butchering cattle.

  • Production is in full swing. Custom cattle cut and packaged.

  • Sausage-making day, in preparation for the Farmers’ Market. Cut, roll, and tie beef roasts. Slice bacon.

  • Final preparations for the market. Steaks and chops prepared and cut. Customers pick up their orders and custom-cut animals.

  • Market day! Start early grinding hamburger. Load up the trailer and head to the Farmers’ Market in Woodstock. Load showcases full of meat in preparation for a busy morning with customers. Head back to the Embro shop to wrap up the week!