Cherry Meat Packers, Inc.

Cherry Meat Packers, Inc., doing business as The Chicago Meat, manufactures and supplies frozen beef commodities to the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a prime contractor under partial small business set-asides, with a five-year footprint dominated by food assistance procurement work totaling $1.29 billion in combined potential value across 2,405 definitive contracts.

The vendor is a for-profit, small-business meat processor headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, established in SAM.gov since 2000 and operating under NAICS 311611 (Animal except Poultry Slaughtering) and PSC 8905 (Meat, Poultry, and Fish). Cherry Meat Packers competes exclusively as a prime contractor; the source carries zero sub-award footprint. The vendor's posture is uniformly partial small business set-aside, with isolated full-and-open and total small business set-aside awards; the vendor does not hold any standing IDIQs or parent vehicles — each award is a definitive contract issued in response to specific solicitations.

Customer concentration is extreme and singular: the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service anchors the portfolio with 302 awards worth $925.1 million combined potential value (72% of total dollars), followed distantly by the Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office (149 awards, $234.5 million) and Agricultural Marketing Service (214 awards, $12.2 million). The Defense Logistics Agency carries 1,060 awards but contributes negligibly to potential value; DLA awards are likely small-dollar historical transactions. USDA's three components and DLA account for 92% of combined potential value across 1,729 awards (72% of total award count).

Recent capability work is uniform: Cherry Meat Packers delivers frozen beef commodities in domestic food assistance programs under USDA FNS and AMS procurement. Representative contracts include a $16.43 million delivery order (July 2026) for 100% pure ground beef (85/15 and 90/10 lean blends) and fine ground beef in 40-pound cartons and individual packages under partial small business set-aside; a $13.035 million award (June 2026) for 100% pure ground beef, coarse ground beef, fine ground beef, and lean beef patties, frozen and packaged 40–60 pounds; and a $12.834 million order (January 2026) for 85/15 and fine ground beef in cartons and packages to support the Emergency Food Assistance Program, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, and National School Lunch Program. All contracts require domestic sourcing — livestock born, raised, and harvested exclusively in the United States — and firm fixed-price structures. Place of performance is invariably Chicago, Illinois, with delivery to more than thirty states, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories.

Activity is cyclical and declining in recent years: thirteen awards in 2022, twenty in 2023, twenty-six in 2024, thirteen in 2025, and seven through early July 2026. The recompete cliff is minimal: only three awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $33 million. Each USDA solicitation typically spans weeks to months, so individual contract completion cycles are short; the vendor faces recurring opportunity to rebid on rolling USDA procurement actions rather than defend long-duration vehicles.

The vendor operates as a commodity supplier exclusively; there is no teaming, no sub-engagement, and no diversification beyond frozen beef provision to federal nutrition programs. The commercial capability is narrow — frozen beef processing and logistics to government specifications — and the customer concentration on USDA FNS and AMS is absolute. Competitive entry against Cherry Meat Packers in USDA beef commodity procurement requires domestic beef sourcing capability, SAM registration, small business status, and demonstrated delivery logistics to multi-state distribution networks.