Southern Jewish Life — Deep South —  August 1, 2009

Golden Opportunity

Colorado company goes national with premium Angus Glatt kosher beef

By Lee Green

Those who don’t live in the largest U.S. metropolitan areas likely have had a beef with the lack of high-quality, all-natural, certified Glatt kosher meat supply. But that changed in January when Michael Kastner launched what he describes as “the local kosher butcher for people all over the country.”

“We understand how difficult it is for people in a lot of cities to get quality, fresh kosher beef regularly,” said Kastner, who started the Colorado-based Golden West in July 2008 to secure a steady supply of beef in his New Jersey butcher store without having to go through another provider. He launched Golden West’s national web/telephone ordering service in early 2009.

Kastner started in the industry back in 1984 as a kosher butcher just outside of New York City. He eventually grew his business into a full kosher supermarket. “This is the highest quality kosher beef I have tasted in more than 20 years.”

He originally decided to create Golden West after visiting his son in California. He found that his son, like so many across the nation, was having a hard time finding kosher meat in the wake of the May 2008 raid on Agriprocessors’ Postville, Iowa, plant.

When federal authorities raided the plant—the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the nation—they arrested close to 400 workers, charging that they were in the country illegally. The arrests reduced the plant’s workforce by one-third and the company, which had a 60 percent share of the kosher-beef market, has been struggling to return to its former production levels, causing concern of a kosher beef shortage.

Referring to the Postville raid, some early Golden West ads asked “What kosher beef shortage?”

Kastner said Golden West only uses Angus beef that is all natural, with no hormones added. “In addition to having such quality products, we pride ourselves on our customer service. There are no minimum orders; we’re happy to do custom orders, and customers pay what we pay for shipping—we don’t mark that up at all,” he said.

Golden West can send to anywhere within the country in as little as one or two days. The company offers 35 different cuts/types of kosher beef. Soon they will be adding corned beef and pickled tongue to its extensive product list.

Jewish Outlook — Phoenix —  April 11, 2009

Glatt kosher firm seeks national market online

Michael Kastner would like his company to become “the local kosher butcher for people all over the country.”

So Kastner, owner of Golden West Glatt Cattle Co. in Commerce City, Colo., a Denver suburb, is advertising nationally to get the word out about his kosher meatpacking business, which delivers directly to consumers who order online.

Kastner started in the industry 20 years ago as a kosher butcher in New Jersey. He eventually grew his business into a full kosher supermarket. In July 2008, he started the Golden West Glatt Cattle Co. to secure a steady supply of beef in his store without having to go through another supplier.

“It turned out it was a very good experiment,” Kastner says. “It was probably the highest quality kosher beef I had seen in over 20 years.”

Kastner says he originally decided to create Golden West after visiting his son in California; he found his son was one of many across the nation having a hard time finding kosher meat in the wake of the May 2008 raid on Agriprocessors’ Postville, Iowa, plant.

When federal authorities raided the plant, the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the nation, they arrested about 390 workers, charging that they were in the country illegally. The arrests reduced the plant’s workforce by about a third, and the company, which had a 60 percent share of the kosher-beef market, was struggling to return to its former production levels.

The result was a kosher beef shortage that Kastner addressed in an ad campaign launched in January, which asked, “What kosher beef shortage?”

Rabbi David Rebibo, head of Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth, the local kosher supervising authority, says that he saw a shortage after the Postville raid, but adds that things have improved since then with other vendors jumping in.

“We certainly saw the shortage a couple months ago, not only in Phoenix but in many other localities,” Rebibo says. “But now there are more people producing the meat. Before 50 to 60 percent of the meat was coming from one source, but now it’s more spread out.”

Kastner says he is very proud of his product, Angus beef that is entirely “green,” meaning that the cattle are raised on natural grass and free of antibiotic and hormone treatments.

“I have always felt that kosher consumers should be able to get the highest quality product available on all levels and am taking this opportunity to set the bar very high to provide a healthful, extraordinarily tasty glatt kosher product,” Kastner says.

Rabbi Seth Mandel of the Orthodox Union, which oversees Golden West’s kosher slaughter, said he is proud of what the company has done.

“They have intentionally gone after a sector of the market which was not being well-served,” Mandel says. “They are buying only high-quality beef and they are marketing it as high-quality beef. That is a niche of the kosher market, which up until now was not being served because people were worried about getting beef, not necessarily high-quality or low-quality.”

Call (877) 494-5288 or visit goldenwestglatt.com.

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Jewish Herald-Voice — Houston and Texas Gulf Coast Area —  March 12, 2009

Dining Out

By TED POWERS, Food Editor 12.MAR.09
Golden West Glatt Cattle Company

What a surprise! A few weeks ago, I ordered a variety of kosher meat from an online glatt-kosher company called Golden West Glatt Cattle Company. The meat was certified as glatt kosher by the Orthodox Union, so I was confident that the meat would be kosher; what I did not expect was that the meat would be of the highest quality and taste as good as it looked.

Golden West Glatt is not a new company. They were in the kosher beef business back east for decades before they moved to Colorado. There, they discovered the kind of quality premium Aberdeen Angus beef that only authentic western ranching could produce. Superior to USDA Prime, Choice and Select, Premium Angus is the U.S. standard for exceptional juiciness and rich flavor. These livestock are humanely raised, as they have been for over 150 years, without artificial growth hormones, antibiotics or preservatives. They live off the grasslands and are provided only vegetarian feed from the best cattle country in the world.

Golden West Glatt provides dining excellence for glatt-kosher consumers who want to enjoy fine eating. Here’s a sampling of the beef products that I have tried, and, of course, the glatt-kosher company sells many other cuts of beef.

Let’s start with what may be the best Rib Steak I’ve ever tasted, 21-Day Dry Aged Rib Steak. Years ago, butchers discovered that top quality beef, left hanging and shrouded in a cooler for weeks at a time, ended up substantially more tender and flavorful - a process known as dry aging. It is costly, but, in the opinion of those who take their steak seriously, is well worth it. Each bit of steak was tender, delicious and seemed to melt in my mouth.

On another night, I tasted a really juicy Boneless Ribeye Steak. Each one was cut thick, with lots of marbling, the hallmark of Premium Angus Beef, and was bursting with flavor. Then came a brisket, a little over two pounds, just perfect for my family. Slow-roasted with my favorite BBQ sauce and sliced thinly, it would have been a contender in the recent Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo BBQ contest.

I need to make a special comment on the Premium Angus Ground Beef. It not only made great hamburgers, the really juicy kind, and meatloaf, but the color of the meat was spectacular. The box had four separate packages and all were a very deep, dark red. This was fresh meat, ground, then shipped with little time wasted. No need to mix anything into the meatloaf other than garlic, pepper and maybe some parsley —not even an egg.

What’s next on my list? I plan to try Hanging Tenders which, when marinated and grilled, should make terrific fajitas. You also can order Beef Kabobs, Denver Deckle, Cubed Boneless Chuck, Rib Roast, Beef Marrow Bones and, catch this, Osso Buco. For the complete array of products, go to their website, www.goldenwestglatt.com. You will get complete descriptions, prices and ordering procedures. Shipments will occur two to three business days after order is placed. Golden West Glatt does not process web orders from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

- Ted Powers tedp@jhvonline.com

The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle — Kansas City, MO —  January 30, 2009

Golden West Glatt Cattle Company announces launch of www.goldenwestglatt.com

Intermountain Jewish News — Denver, CO —  January 23, 2009

Glatt kosher beef in Denver via online

No artificial growth hormones or antibiotics

The Golden West Glatt Cattle Company of Denver has launched www.goldenwestglatt.com, an online source for glatt kosher Premium Angus beef.

Golden West, which has combined traditional Western ranching — vegetarian fed, grass finished livestock humanely raised with no artificial growth hormones or antibiotics — and traditional glatt kosher supervision, brings an innovative twist to the kosher meat business.

According to Golden West founder Michael Kastner, the launch of his Internet kosher butcher store provides a much needed new source of high quality glatt kosher steaks, roasts and other beef products via online ordering for nationwide door to-door delivery.

Kastner is owner of Glatt Express, a kosher supermarket in Teaneck, NJ.

He had started out as a “high-end kosher butcher.” He was considering ways to expand his business nationally when the Rubashkin scandal resulted in eliminating a major national source of kosher beef.

That development served as the catalyst for Kastner to launch Golden West.

“During all our years back East in the kosher meat business, we had no idea what truly great premium Angus Western beef could taste like,” said Kastner.

“We formed The Golden West Glatt Cattle Company to combine the pride of Western ranching — authentic Aberdeen Angus herds — with the highest tradition of kashrut, allowing us to bring these high quality glatt meats to consumers who appreciate the finest of kosher foods.”

Shipments occur within two to four business days after the order is placed.

Kastner said the frozen beef is shipped in a Styrofoam container packed with dry ice and placed within a second corrugated box, ensuring optimum insulation.

Golden West Glatt, under the kashrut supervision of the Orthodox Union, is shomer Shabbat and does not process web orders from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

Orders are processed in the Auerbach meat plant in Commerce City, although Golden West Glatt Cattle Company is not owned by the Auerbach family, which for many years has been a kosher meat and grocery purveyor in Colorado.

Golden West beef is not available for customer pick-up at Auerbach”s. It is strictly an Internet and mail order business.

Through the Internet and Golden West's customer service phone number, 877-GWGlatt, Kastner is striving to develop personal relationships with his customers, wherever they may be.

Drawing from his personal roots as a neighborhood butcher, Kastner says he is “looking to be the local kosher butcher for consumers all over the country.”

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