Northwest Meat Processor's Association

Northwest Meat Processor's Association NWMPA is a group striving to work together for the betterment of the meat industry in the Northwest. As well, to build membership within the NWMPA.
(1)

The purpose of this group is to allow all folks working in the meat processing industry within the Northwest a place to come together and share experiences. Post questions, get feedback from other like minded people, sell equipment, and in general promote the betterment of the meat industry.

09/02/2026

Thought this was an interesting take.

Worth resharing from one of our members.
09/01/2026

Worth resharing from one of our members.

I do not mean this post to be rude to this commenter, but this makes me feel like we are not all speaking the same language (custom exempt, state inspected, federal inspected) here.

Custom exempt is a niche market of processing that is done for the owner / end user of the animal.
Each product is marked “not for sale” and not for distribution into retail: meaning stores or restaurants, even farm stands or farmers markets, any of the byproducts, etc.
Because the processing is done for the owner of the animal alone, we are “exempt” from federal inspection.

Truthfully, I love this industry so much.
This is the way it should be.
Custom exempt has my whole heart. I don’t have a lot of passion in my heart for getting infrastructure licensed as a federal slaughterhouse, a haacp plan, all that paperwork, federal inspectors, the works.
I enjoy our work as is: which fills local people’s freezers, with local meat, from local farms.

This is a bit of a “buyer beware” industry, but like I have stated: I personally would trust every custom exempt processor I have ever met over a federally inspected mega slaughterhouse somewhere far away.

Custom exempt means:
A farmer raises a beef —>
sells it to an individual—>
us with a licensed facility for processing that is inspected for safety practices but doesn’t have an on site federal inspector processes it for them —>
Customer picks up from us, puts it in their own freezer, eats it, end of story. 

Does that mean we can sell or give away unwanted byproducts: no, but at the end of the day, that isn’t really what matters most here.

We are in an integral part of a small local supply chain for farm direct meat, and that is our whole desire and purpose.

08/18/2026
Check out a great article about our friends at Lone Crow Meats. Great people and a great article highlighting how far th...
07/31/2026

Check out a great article about our friends at Lone Crow Meats. Great people and a great article highlighting how far they've come.

Interesting article! The top Butcher shops in this article in Alaska, Idaho and Oregon are members! If you follow Butche...
07/24/2026

Interesting article! The top Butcher shops in this article in Alaska, Idaho and Oregon are members! If you follow Butcher shops around the country, a lot of names you'll recognize. Enjoy!

The Best Butcher Shop In Every State

Here's a look at the best butcher shops in each of the 50 states, all of which have won national or state awards or received rave reviews from customers.

Address

Chehalis, WA
98532

Telephone

+19712675402

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Northwest Meat Processor's Association posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Northwest Meat Processor's Association:

Shortcuts

Share

Category