Our Story

During the early 1940s, our founder Bob Lodder’s grandfather, Cornelius, built transport wagons for farmers in the Dutch province of Friesland. His passion was helping to connect farmers and their goods with local consumers — from farm to table. Sadly, Cornelius’s dream was extinguished by Nazis during World War II, who seized his business to support their war efforts.

Dutch wagon manufacturer in Holland before World War II, farm to table

Seventy years later, Friesla’s team is re-establishing the connection that inspired Cornelius: the farm-to-table link between farmers, goods, and our local communities.

During the late 1960s, there were nearly 10,000 slaughter facilities in the U.S., or roughly three per county. Over the half century since, the meat processing industry has consolidated. Corporate meat processing operations grew larger and more commercialized. Struggling to compete and remain profitable, small farmers were driven out of business. Thousands of localized slaughterhouses were decimated. By April 2018, there were only 2,758 slaughter facilities in the U.S. — less than one per county.

Local farmers, the backbone of American agriculture, fell secondary to the rise of large-scale meat processing operations. The agricultural landscape changed, and not for the better.

To stay in business, farmers began traveling long distances with their animals to regional slaughterhouses. The trips stressed animals and affected meat quality. Farmers sacrificed profits due to increased transportation costs and wasted time. They bore the stress of scheduling with large abattoirs, sacrificing autonomy in their operations for the unpredictability of regional slaughterhouses. Consumers, once nourished by fresh, high-quality local meat, were disserved by mass-produced meat and little idea where it came from.

The farm-to-table connection, diminished by corporate commercialization over the past half decade, is worth restoring: for our animals, farmers, communities, and environment.

At Friesla, our mission is to help farmers and ranchers take back control of your local meat processing — on your terms, time, and at your site.

Our vision is to create a global network of strong, sustainable ecosystems in which independent farmers raise, process, and deliver premium meat direct to our local communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of large, consolidated meat packing operations. Our purpose is to help you create the alternative.

Together, let’s get started.

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Brown and white beef cows grazing in field grass of countryside during sunrise