Rancho Llano Seco, the historic Chico, California, beef and pork farm that counts Chez Panisse and Zazie among its customers, is getting out of the meat business. Llano Seco Meats, the 162-year-old ranch’s meat brand, will shut down in October. The company broke the news to its customers on Instagram on Monday, calling it an “extremely tough decision.”
“Ultimately, it was an economic decision for the company and family,” Charlie Thieriot, the CEO of Llano Seco Meats, told SFGATE. “… Essentially, the cost of feed doubled due to the war in Ukraine and the drought in California, and other costs like plastics, fuel and labor all went up.”