Get the Lard Out: Coast Packing Company Unveils #LardAtRetail, Showcasing America’s Best Sources for the Popular Animal Fat

View Taste the Difference – #LardAtRetail in a full screen map

Covering the Top 10 Metro Areas in the U.S., New Sourcebook Debuts with 120 Locations Coast to Coast — And Many More on the Way

After decades of consumers relying on artificial, highly processed and frankly less flavorful alternatives, the word is out in 2022: America still loves lard and, these days, shoppers can find it just about everywhere.

With today’s introduction of #LardAtRetail, an ongoing compendium of shops and stores that sell lard, Coast Packing Company, the West’s largest supplier of animal fat shortenings, is about to make that even easier.  #LardAtRetail is built around top retail sources in America’s 10 largest metro areas: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and San Jose.

A service of Coast Packing, #LardAtRetail is part of the lead-up to the March 21 observance of #NationalHealthyFatsDay, an initiative of the Healthy Fats Coalition, which coincides with the arrival of spring.

“Lard is traditional, authentic and impossible to duplicate,” said Eric R. Gustafson, Coast Packing CEO.  “We all value comfort food, and in that respect, lard consistently delivers.

More and more consumers are seeking out food that is made with integrity and respect for culinary traditions.  Trans-fat free animal fats are a big part of authenticity in cooking.

In most commercial (and many home) kitchens, lard is a mainstay.”

According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com in FoodDive, the global lard market generated some $15.7 billion in revenue during 2018, an increase of 2.9 percent from the previous year.  Consumption is forecast to grow by 1.6 percent annually through 2025, fuelled by rising demand in China, ResearchAndMarkets said.  Lard consumption among consumers outside the U.S. exceeds domestic demand, with China accounting for 40 percent of the total, or 2.87 million tons — four times that of second-ranked Germany.

Among the more intriguing lard suppliers closer to home is Esposito Meat Market, a midtown New York butcher known for pork, house-made sausage and hard-to-find game. Giovanni Esposito opened a butcher shop in 1932 in Hell’s Kitchen with his three sons Teddy, Armando, and Anthony.  On the West Coast, at A Cut Above Butcher Shop in Santa Monica, you’ll find Eddy Shin, a self-taught chef/butcher who specializes in dry aging and was featured on the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” episode “The Butcher.”  In Chicago, Gepperth’s Meat Market has served the Lincoln Park community since 1906 with an eclectic array of house-made sausage, including Moroccan, German, Thai and South African varieties.  In Mesa, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona Meat Market operates in tandem with a family farm in Utah, which raises pigs, cattle, and sheep.  And in San Antonio, Shower Daily Ranch raises pigs outdoors, rotating them through various pastures so they’re free to do what pigs do — rooting in the dirt, laying in the sun and playing chase.

Have a favorite grocer who offers lard?  If so, hashtag us at #LardAtRetail, or drop Coast an email at info@coastpacking.com and the company will add it to the map.  

About Coast Packing Company

Now marking its 100th year in business, Coast Packing Company (www.coastpacking.com), a closely held corporation, is the number one supplier of animal fat shortenings – particularly lard and beef tallow — in the Western United States.  The company sells to major manufacturers, distributors, retailers, smaller food service operations and leading bakeries.  The company participates actively in diverse ethnic markets – from Hispanic retail chains, with its VIVA brand, to various Asian specialty markets.  Based in Vernon, Calif., Coast Packing Company is regional, national and, increasingly, global.  In some cases, supplier relationships are multigenerational, extending back 50 years and more.  Coast is a founding member of the Healthy Fats Coalition.