How Sierra Meat & Seafood turned a bison ranch into an empire 

Currently in its fourth generation, Sierra Meat & Seafood (Sierra) is a family business with five distinct divisions. The company serves as a premium distributor of meat and seafood to hotels, restaurants, and other institutions across the greater Reno-Tahoe area and nationwide, while also operating as a private-label manufacturer of portion-controlled products. Additionally, Sierra produces specialty and exotic meats for national distribution, with finely handcrafted artisanal sausages and deli meats alongside the Flocchini family managed 55,000-acre bison ranch in Gillette, Wyoming. Through this multi-faceted approach, the company stands out as a one-stop-shop across the meat and seafood industry. Bernadette Flocchini, Executive Vice President, introduces us to Sierra’s rich history. 

“Upon immigrating from Italy, my grandfather began working in the US as a calf skinner at Durham Meat Company in San Francisco. Passionate about the trade, he apprenticed himself to the owner, learning everything he could. When his future mother-in-law generously gave him the funds, he purchased the company. After college, his two sons joined the operation. One day, my grandfather decided that he no longer wanted to rely on suppliers for his Bay Area restaurant and hotel clients, prompting him to seek a cow-calf operation. Instead of finding a beef cow-calf operation, he acquired a bison ranch in 1965. My father, one of the visionaries of the family, had the clever idea of selling bison meat across the country, marking the start of our national expansion. As we relocated through the Bay Area, from San Francisco to Mountain View to San Jose, Durham Meat Company evolved dramatically, transitioning from whole carcass processing to boxed beef distribution,” she opens. 

The development of the business and its offerings has led Sierra to refine its manufacturing process, as Jakob Day, Director of Operations, points out. “To date, we have witnessed all sorts of advancements in production and operations, mainly focused on capacity and efficiency improvements. In addition, with new food safety initiatives and regulations continuing to become tighter, we aim to stay on the cutting edge of that by embracing a ‘more is better’ approach. As part of that, we always prioritize being stricter with our regulations, meeting requirements, and anticipating what is next. Rick Flocchini, our Production Manager, ran the production room at Sierra for many years, among many other roles within the company. Recently, he has returned to help enhance our production efficiencies and strengthen our historical business models, thereby bolstering our internal knowledge base and routines.” 

Bernadette proceeds to give us a detailed rundown of Sierra’s range of products and services across its five divisions. “Focused on the center of the plate, our offerings include our Certified Angus Beef™ which is our signature beef product, and we carry every USDA grade from prime to select, to ungraded beef, as well as our vertically integrated Durham Ranch American Wagyu. Alongside our veal, lamb, and poultry products, we provide three types of pork: Berkshire, Duroc, and commodity pork. Since we are close to California, we must ensure that we have California Proposition 12 certified pork for our client base there. Furthermore, we have a fish room dedicated to production, where we bring in whole fish, cut fillets and portions, and offer shellfish and a line of frozen seafood, including shrimp and scallops. In fact, all the best all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants in Reno buy our sushi line.

“With Sierra as the distribution arm of our sausage facility in Carson City, we sell our sausage products across Northern Nevada and in California. Throughout the country, we offer specialty branded proteins under our Durham Ranch brand. Anything with our Durham Ranch label on it is antibiotic-free, hormone-free, minimally processed, and sustainably sourced from small family operations. Our passion for building a brand founded on honest agriculture came from the management of our family’s bison ranch. Sixty years later, we still manage the ranch using the holistic ranch management model, that has allowed the animals and land to give back to us for multiple generations. More niche products we specialize in include venison and elk from New Zealand, wild boar, and even alligator, which we offer to distributors, manufacturers, pet food producers, and sausage makers across the US and internationally. Last but not least, our signature product is bison, much of which comes from our family’s ranch, although we sometimes collaborate with partners to meet demand,” she elaborates. 

Its status as a family business greatly influences Sierra’s strategy when it comes to selecting partners crucial to the delivery of its high-quality products. Bernadette sheds light on Sierra’s approach. “Whether it is with our customers or our vendors, we prefer to partner with fellow family-owned businesses. Several of our vendor relationships have lasted for many years, with some dating as far back as the time when my father first joined the company. The reason why we value family-run partners is that we believe they are nimbler and share the same values as us. This alignment enables us to move quickly and respond effectively to opportunities. For instance, we invited the Executive Chef from Levy Group to our sausage facility to collaborate on the creation of a custom sausage blend for the Reno Aces, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Baseball team. Having such family-oriented partnerships means that the door is always open, and there is always an extra seat at the table, resulting in an inviting and familiar atmosphere where relationships can last,” she concludes. 

From humble beginnings to its current position as an industry leader, Sierra proves that family values, innovation, and quality craftsmanship create enduring success in the modern marketplace.  

sierrameat.com