Dakota Pure Meats, LLC

Dakota Pure Meats, LLC, a South Dakota-based bison processing company, supplies frozen bison commodities to the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service as a prime contractor under partial small business set-asides and full-and-open procurements. The vendor operates as a limited liability company structured for profit, founded in 2019 by two bison ranching families, and performs work under NAICS 311611 (Animal Slaughtering, except Poultry) and PSC 8905 (Meat, Poultry, and Fish).

Dakota Pure Meats' federal footprint centers entirely on USDA Food and Nutrition Service contracts for frozen bison products destined for domestic food assistance programs. The vendor holds four prime definitive contracts, all awarded by FNS in 2026: a $9.646 million full-and-open award issued April 8, 2026 for frozen bison ground lean and stew meat with place of performance in Cadott, Wisconsin (ultimate completion October 31, 2026); a $619,600 full-and-open award also from April 8, 2026 for frozen bison ground lean with place of performance in Denver, Colorado (ultimate completion July 31, 2026); a $1.568 million partial small business set-aside award issued August 25, 2026 for frozen bison stew meat with place of performance in Cadott, Wisconsin (ultimate completion March 15, 2027); and a $1.018 million partial small business set-aside award also from August 25, 2026 for frozen bison ground lean with place of performance in Cannon Falls, Minnesota (ultimate completion February 28, 2027). All four FNS contracts carry firm fixed-price terms and procure commodities under FAR part 12 commercial product procedures. The vendor also serves as a sub-award recipient on a Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service grant through the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, receiving equipment funding in March 2024 to purchase production machinery—a patty machine, stuffer, and smokehouse—intended to increase processing capacity and volume for downstream bison producers.

FNS accounts for 100% of awards by count and combined potential value across the recent footprint ($12.9 million). Three awards carrying combined potential value of $12.2 million face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, exposing the vendor to near-term recompete activity. Across recent awards, Dakota Pure Meats competes under both partial small business set-asides and full-and-open solicitations; 80% of awards are prime contracts and 20% are sub or sub-recipient awards.