The History Of J & R Meat Company
Once upon a golden sunset, a cowboy named John Roberts rode into town and opened the doors of J&R Meat Company. At that time, John’s vision for J&R Meat Co. was for it to be a meat processing plant, locker, and restaurant supplier; however, Porterville had a bigger vision. Soon, people who ate at the restaurants would want to know where they could get those same tasty steaks and juicy burgers for their Sunday barbeques. People soon started walking through the doors of J&R and could order steaks cut to their specifications.
In 1996, a new cowboy, Dennis Kendall, and his rodeo queen, Peggie, took ownership of J&R Meat Company. They took the vision of J&R even further by making dinner easy for the public by cooking deep pit roasts for their customers, making shish kabobs that are skewed and ready to be thrown on the grill, seasoning and marinating the public’s steaks, and so much more. Now, as the cowboy and his rodeo queen ride off into the sunset into retirement, the J&R family wishes them the very best.
For the past several years, J&R has been owned and operated by the Stock family, who has been rooted in the beef industry since Kelly Stock’s childhood in the mid-west. They have continued to provide great service and quality meat to the community. However, as the Stock family moves on to new ventures, they have sold the business to the Cumming family.
After leaving her hometown to study Animal Science some 35 years ago, Shelley Cumming and her family are excited to come back to Porterville to continue the legacy of the iconic little meat shop known as J&R Meat Company. Some things are just meant to be and some would simply say, “It’s in her blood.” Growing up in Porterville, Shelley spent many days working with her father who not only had a career as a mobile livestock harvester, but a retail butcher and meat manager as well. With a rooted interest in livestock and meat production, a degree in Animal Science was an obvious choice for Shelley after graduating from Porterville High School in 1990. Away at college, Shelley met her match in Sean Cumming, another Animal Science student. Shortly after Sean and Shelley graduated from Fresno State, they began intense careers in the meat industry, married, and began raising a family.
In June of 2022, the sun, the moon, and the stars aligned and Shelley made it back to her hometown of Porterville as a proud new owner of the Iconic Little Meat Shop, Where Hometown Customer Service and High Quality Meat Come First! Backed with over 100 years of meat industry experience, Shelley and family are committed to upholding the high standards of quality and service that J&R Meat Customers are accustomed to. With the help of J&R’s dedicated and hardworking employees, the Cumming family looks forward to serving the community with the same delicious seasoned, deep-pit roasts, seasoned prime rib, and other high-quality meats that the iconic little meat shop known as J&R Meat Company is famous for.
A tent is set up during the holidays where J&R sells not only to the good people of Porterville, but also to Visalia, Tulare, Springville, Fresno, Clovis, Terra Bella, Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, and even as far out of state as Florida.
J&R is open every day except Sunday. Walk-ins are always welcome, but orders can be called in for easy pick-up. J&R continues to look forward to serving customers’ needs with good prices and quality meat.
