The hands of the clock on the wall point towards 4:30 a.m. Fred Linz is right on time to start his shift at the family business, Meats by Linz.

Alongside two other workers, he cuts meat until the hands shift to 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Then, he changes into a fresh shirt, adds a tie and hits the street selling for seven or eight hours. 

“Every time we walked in the back door of a kitchen, it was, ‘Meats by who? Meats by who?’” he recalls. 

The process was repeated until the question from chefs and restaurant owners was no longer who Meats by Linz was, but how much their products cost. 

“We built a brand, and we built a reputation,” Linz says. “They’re calling us. They’re coming to us. We don’t have to go out looking for them anymore.” 

The story is now told in just a few moments, but the legacy took several decades to build. Though integrity and consistency have always been pillars of the family name, Linz says he is proud each generation has embraced new ventures to propel the operation toward success. 

A delicious beginning 

Meats by Linz was started in 1963 as a little butcher shop on the south side of Chicago by Fred’s grandfather, Marty. The operation was located on the border of Indiana and Illinois. While it was an ideal spot in those beginning years, competition was soon at their doorstep. 

“The butcher shop transitioned from being a retail butcher shop into a wholesale distributor probably mid- to late ’80s by my dad,” Fred says, noting larger supermarkets had come to Chicago. “My dad had the vision of selling to some of the local restaurants, and that’s how we got our start in the foodservice side.” 

Fred took what he calls an “early retirement” out of high school in 1986 to join the business full-time. There were five employees at the time, but once Fred put his focus on white-tablecloth sales, the operation grew rapidly. 

Today, Meats by Linz is internationally known. Their sales stretch from New York to California, and are exported throughout Mexico and Asia. From fine dining restaurants to cruise ships, Fred says it’s always been his mission to provide a consistently delicious eating experience. 

From butcher to cattleman

In 2012 that mission gave Fred a new idea. With all the Angus breed brought to the table, where could he find locally sourced black-hided, registered cattle to utilize in Meats by Linz? While touring ranches in Wisconsin and Illinois, Fred had a bit of an epiphany. 

“That’s where I got the idea of getting into the live side and trying to provide a pasture-to-plate story,” he says. 

That year, he purchased 10 first-calf heifers with offspring at side for Crown Point, Ind., ranch.

“I always tell everybody I’m looking for the Michael Jordan of Angus cattle,” Fred says with a smile — slam dunks and easy shots from the free-throw line. 

Phenotype is his No. 1 priority, but genetics help Fred prioritize carcass qualities in the herd. 

Balance is key, adds Anthony Randall, cattle procurement manager, who joined the team in the spring of 2020. 

“[The cattle] have to be able to do it all,” Randall explains, “because we sell cattle all across the country.” 

The operation hosted their first female sale in 2017 and a bull sale the following year. As the customer base of large cow-calf operators grew, Fred realized it might be time for yet another change. Indiana was home, but Fred knew he couldn’t run the numbers he wanted on the land available. In December 2021 they moved their livestock headquarters to the Blue Branch Ranch in Byars, Okla.  

The following year marked the worst drought in the state in 25 years, Randall points out, noting it made the transition challenging. Employees and cattle that hadn’t ever been off a Midwest operation were transported to what felt like a whole new world. 

“You’re going to find out real fast what cattle are going to fit this country, and what aren’t,” he says. 

While it was a sharp learning curve, Randall says it made the herd stronger. The Oklahoma ground also proved to be what Fred had hoped for; good weather and tall grass allowed calves’ growth rates to hit an all time high. Even better, Randall says customers appreciated the condition bulls were sold in after the move. 

While the quality of livestock likely played a role in customers following the Linz family from Indiana to Oklahoma for sales, Randall thinks it’s a relationship that goes deeper than improved body condition scores. 

“I think they also appreciate the idea that we’re trying to be better,” he says. “I mean, we’re continuing to push our program. We put pressures on them to do things different and they do the same to us, and that’s why it’s a good partnership.” 

Part of the pressures he mentions came about when he and Fred partnered to purchase a feedlot last September. It was a move that helped the entire Meats by Linz brand. 

“We’ve got every piece of the puzzle right now from birth to box, other than owning our own harvesting facility,” Fred explains. 

Fred had cattle in feedlots for many years, but this was a first for the family. Despite the newness of the venture, it was a full-circle moment for Meats by Linz. 

“We felt that in order to have more raw material, we have to sell more bulls,” Fred explains. “In order to sell more bulls, we need to offer something outside the norm that helps these producers and makes them want to come and use and buy our bulls.” 

The new acquisition quickly became the perfect place to finish calves through a buyback program. Fred says they try to give bull customers the best price on calves based on the current market. If an agreed price can’t be found, the Linz family will still go to a sale barn and bid. Even if they don’t get the cattle, Fred says they’ve at least helped bid up the sale for their customers. 

“We want to see them succeed. We want to see them do their best or better,” he explains. 

This is also why Fred and Anthony send back as much carcass data as possible to bull customers on their calves. 

“The purchase [of the feedlot] allowed us to have a lot more control on that data collection,” Anthony adds. “We offer services the other bull sellers might not. We’re able to show [customers] how [calves] performed at the feedlot and on the rail.” 

More data means better business decisions, in Fred’s mind. Their commercial customers can discover what bulls are working in their breeding program and what bulls aren’t. 

Better breeding leads to better calves, and better calves lead to better meat. 

“Our name’s on everything. My name is on everything, I’ve got to be able to face people … and I’ve got to look in the mirror every day. So, I want to make sure that I put out a product that I can be proud of and that we can back.”
— Fred Linz

Whether it’s his cattle or a steak, Fred says he works to uphold the same level of pride and integrity his father and grandfather had. To him, that’s just the Linz way. 

As he continues finding new ways to keep that family name synonymous with quality, Fred’s also paving the way for the fourth generation of Linz men with help from his partner, Camille Ballay. His eldest son, Zac Linz, runs the processing facility, while the next in line, Tyler Linz, attends Oklahoma State University. His youngest, Jacques Ballay-Linz, is finishing the sixth grade while also enjoying time in the pasture at home.  

“Knowing that those kids want to do something and they’ve got opportunities I didn’t have…knowing that at least I gave them a solid platform to work off of is gratifying,” Fred explains. 

His own hard work has ensured the boys won’t ever know the feeling of cutting meat in the wee hours of the morning before donning a tie to go door knocking. But it has paved the way for them to discover what it means to be a part of the Linz legacy.

That’s a truth Fred’s proud of.