001009 Denver Buffalo Company Changes Name

Denver, C) - Denver Buffalo Company, the world's largest marketer of buffalo (bison) meat is changing its name to New West Foods. The reason? Earlier this year, the company expanded its product line by acquiring Game Colorado, a full line of wholesale wild game products ranging from alligator, snapping turtle and rabbit to rattlesnake, quail and ostrich. This makes New West Foods the largest wholesaler/marketer of Buffalo and Specialty Game meats to the foodservice, retail, and consumer/e-commerce markets.

“Now that we have added a diversified line of gourmet wild game products to our business, it makes sense to change the company name to one that is representative of all the products we offer,” says New West Foods owner and CEO Will McFarlane. “We feel the name New West Foods accurately reflects our growing business.”

The company's name change does not affect the name of nationally known Denver Buffalo Company Restaurant and Trading Post, located on Lincoln Street in Denver. The restaurant, a Denver landmark, will retain the Denver Buffalo Company name, as will its sister restaurant, the Buffalo Restaurant and Bar in Idaho Springs, Colo. The two restaurants will now have menus featuring additional wild game items. In addition, New West Foods will continue to use the Denver Buffalo Company brand name for its buffalo product.

Ruth's Chris, Steak House Chain adds Buffalo Entree to Menu

Beginning October 2000, more than 50 Ruth's Chris steak houses across North America will add to its menu a 16-oz. strip of seared all-American natural buffalo from New West Foods. “With autumn signaling a change in weather and cooler temperatures, we focused our efforts in developing more hearty fare,” says Ruth Fertel, founder of Ruth's Chris Steak House.

“Buffalo is truly the healthy red meat,” adds McFarlane. “It's lower in fat, cholesterol and calories, and higher in protein than most cuts of beef, chicken, pork and most fish.” Once tasting the buffalo product, McFarlane believes the Ruth's Chris customer is going to want to seek out New West Foods specialty meats in their local supermarket. Consumers won't have to look far.

Specialty Meats Hit Retail Shelves

New West Foods is aggressively selling a newly developed line of retail products which include buffalo stir fry, fajita, buffalo steak, ground ostrich and ostrich steak as well as its traditional buffalo burgers and ground buffalo to grocery stores nationwide. New West Foods plans to add many new meat products to their full-line of all-natural, healthy, specialty meats with the goal of building brand recognition nationwide.

The company expects its retail products to be on the shelves of more than 1,000 stores such as Albertsons, Safeway, Dillions, Save Mart, Ralph's, Whole Foods and Wild Oats/Alfalfas by the end of this year.

In addition to its retail distribution, SYSCO, the world's largest food service supplier, recently took on New West Foods as its exclusive supplier of SYSCO branded buffalo and specialty game meats.

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