While the pandemic took a little cut out of all of us, Nayt Bennett carved his way into starting a local butcher shop business with The Meatery Inc.
Before the word COVID was even spoken, the long-time butcher had sliced up a plan to bring a quality meats and catering service to Airdrie.
"I've always wanted to have my own shop and when Airdrie became available I did some research and it was a good place to put down some roots," says Bennett an Airdrie resident who has been in the industry for 17 years.
The Meatery Inc. opened May of 2020 amid the beginning of the pandemic. Restrictions banning large gatherings brought business to a screeching halt Bennett says.
"We lost 70 percent of our sales, and that was huge. We couldn't get people in and had to do curbside pickups. People don't know that I'm here because we weren't able to have a grand opening because of COVID."
The butcher shop, delicatessen and catering outlet offers sustainable beef, chicken, pork and specialty items as well as unique recipe specials which "fly like hotcakes."
"Everything is locally sourced from a 100-mile radius of Airdrie. We can trace the animals, it's all fresh grass-fed and grain-finished," said Bennett.
"Airdrie's awesome, I love it here. Response has been amazing. It can only go up from here. I really want people to know that I'm here and the more support I can get will do us wonders."
The Meatery Inc. can be found on Facebook.