Eater reported on the Sqirl moldy jam situation the day after the allegations.
OT, I bought a steak today at Ralphs.
They didnât claim anything about where it was raised, just that itâs beef. $5.99/lb.
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As did a slew of other publications. Two major reasons for that:
- Joe Rosenthal talked with every reporter who contacted him, while Evan Reiner apparently talked only with the first.
- Koslow responded with a rationalization that fell apart immediately, while Fernald admitted that something had gone wrong and promised to investigate.
https://twitter.com/SQIRLLA/status/1282426595349848069
At that price? A CAFO.
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It was the first place I saw the news (not being in LA or SF proper) and it had links to all the other sourcesâŚ
â Home is where you wear your hat.
In this case, theyâre rubber and youâre glue.
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It was all here before Boing Boing echoed it.
I missed probably the most important difference: with Sqirl, the pictures were of disgusting spoiled jam. With Belcampo, the pictures are of perfectly nice, correctly packaged meat properly stored in a walk-in.
This reporter talked with Evan Reiner and got a little more information, though the storyâs mostly a rehash.
LA Magazine has a story with no new information.
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Thanks for the link.
The Sqirl story also had multiple witnesses/reports. And in addition to the visual, the hipster/gentrification debate turbocharged it.
Rocker Brothers quote is pretty damning though. Knowledge of this model could probably explain more, but it stretches credulity to think SaMo went rogue without the knowledge of the larger corporation. Seriously doubt that âcorporateâ doesnât know what each store is ordering, grossing, and netting.
Iâm sure Belcampoâs financial team knew each locationâs numbers, but they may not have been looking at the invoices for the details. There would have been no big red flags if they believed that the local managers were following policy as far as sourcing and labeling. If that was the case, then there would be a powerful temptation for the local managers to take advantage of it to boost their revenues and profits. Especially during the pandemic, when there was likely even more disorganization and less oversight then usual.
Such mismanagement actually seems more plausible to me than company-wide fraud, given how long the story has been out with no reports from additional witnesses, though I wouldnât bet one way or the other.
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Quality accounting right there.
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Respectfully, think we have really different priors, perspectives, and assumptions on this.
Maybe I misunderstand their business model, but their whole brand is vertically integrated, âwe sell what we grow.â Not sure why there would be a policy for sourcing and labeling beyond what does HQ have in stock? I mean, wasnât sourcing and labeling supposed to come directly from BelCampo farms? Theyâre not a multi label shop like McCallâs. Why would individual stores even have the option to go to third parties? That contradicts everything about their brand and advertising.
To me Occamâs Razor here is they knew, it happened for a while, and they condoned it/looked the other way. It does remind me of Theranos. And as far as heuristics go, the first time caught is almost always not the first time committing the crime, though thatâs what everyone claims after theyâre caught.
I do appreciate your comment though. We just see it really differently!
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This is not a matter of speculation, Belcampo has admitted it. Without third-party suppliers, they would constantly be out of stock of the most in-demand items, such as chicken breasts and beef tenderloin. Yeah, itâs contrary to their brand, but itâs also a practical response to the bad business model of tying a restaurant to a single supplier. There are meat-counter photos online where you can see non-Belcampo items clearly labeled, e.g. Batali charcuterie.
Plus Belcamo produces only meat,so there were necessarily going to be a lot of local suppliers for dairy, veg, baked goods, beer, wine, liquor, etc.
Corporate management wishfully turning a blind eye certainly seems like a possibility.
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The meat coming from the farm needed to be purchased by the restaurants and butcher shops, akin to any wholesale account, says one former Belcampo chef, and that meat came with a higher price tag than products from other suppliers. As a result, employees allege, financial managers decided that it would be beneficial to begin to routinely source outside meat from local restaurant suppliers rather than order it exclusively from Belcampo Farms.
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Reiner says a new financial manager was hired to watch over the storeâs budget and, at one point, restricted the retail shopâs ordering to $2000 per week. âThe only way to fill that case with that budget was to buy from Rocker Brothers,â Reiner says.
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Two staff members tell Eater that whenever Fernald announced that she would be visiting any of the shops in Southern California, boxes and labels from distributors like Rocker Brothers or West Coast Prime were to be hidden from view before her arrival.
My guess is the company will go bankrupt and be broken up.
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Agree. And buried in that article is reporting on a wage theft settlement by Belcampo.
Wage theft is especially disgusting and takes advantage of the most vulnerable in society.
Does not get lower than that.
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I wonder how the $750,000 settlement managed to go unreported until now?
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Arenât those usually announced by state agencies? Or does the settlement obviate some reporting requirement?