Butcher and Packer has been around since 1937, and president Fritz Blohm's family has run the business since 1951. Its Gratiot location and its name speak to its core business: wholesale distribution of supplies for meat processors and packers. "The name is very descriptive -- it's really not anything more than that," he says. "We sell the ingredients, the natural casings...anything and everything to process meat -- except the meat."
The company does sell retail, but its its main business is the meat packing industry -- which has evolved over the years from local corner butcher shops to large national chains. When B&P opened there were seven or eight butcher suppliers in the city of Detroit, five within Eastern Market alone.
Blohm says the concentration was due to the city's European immigrants, especially those of German and Polish descent.
Although many of the slaughterhouses have left the market area, he notes that two Halal houses have opened, owing to the growing Middle Eastern population in the area.
Times have changed, but B&P has managed to adapt. "We've survived here," says Blohm. "There was such a concentration, but now we are unique."
The operation has 15 employees and spans five storefronts. B&P is located at
1468 Gratiot. Call 313-567-1250.
Source: Fritz Blohm, Butcher and Packer
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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