Jordan's Meat Market receives its second award after being in business for three years
LE MARS, Iowa (KCAU) — A young meat entrepreneur has received his second award for the 2025 Best Northwest Meat Locker. The award was given by the N'West Iowa Review.
'It's very proud. I mean, this is a lot to achieve here, and it's a lot going on. It's a lot to take care of, and it takes a lot of hours. But very happy with where I am today,' said Jordan Marks, the owner of Jordan's Meat Market.
Owner and operator of Jordan's Meat Market, Jordan Marks, said he's had a passion for meat since he was a kid.
'I've been around it my entire life, my family's been around it their entire lives,' Marks said. 'So, I started back when I was like 14 years old. Then I went to Iowa State for Animal Science, Meat Science.'
Right after college, Marks opened his shop in Marcus, Iowa, at the age of 22.
'It was a lot of conversations with the Economic Development Board, [in the] city of Marcus,' Marks expressed. 'So it was a lot of talking, a lot of work on the numbers, seeing if it was attainable. And then once we realized it was attainable, [was] when we basically got right into it and started building and then started working right away.'
Marks saw major success at one location, so he decided to expand and open up his second shop in Le Mars.
'Mr. Wells came up to us and said, 'Hey, I might have a building you guys are interested in.' And then yeah, we went with it.'
After being open for only three years, Marks has already received two awards for his business. Marks believes this is all possible because of two things. The first being his quality.
'Almost all of our products here are made in-house,' said Marks. 'There are very [few] things that we just buy and sell. Like all of our bratwurst here, we use real ingredients. So, like if it's a pineapple bratwurst, I use actual dehydrated pineapple chunks and not pineapple flavoring. We make our own in-house bacon bits with our end pieces of bacon. I'll grind those up and smoke those. Re-cook those, render them down, and make our own in-house bacon bits.'
And second, listening to his customers.
'I take a lot of customer feedback into consideration, and if I feel like a change needs to be made, then I'll make that change. This is a service industry, and if you don't provide the right service or a good enough service, what's driving people to come to your business?'
As of right now, Marks has no plans to expand his market, but when the time comes, he hopes to open up in the Siouxland area.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Jordan's Meat Market receives its second award after being in business for three years
LE MARS, Iowa (KCAU) — A young meat entrepreneur has received his second award for the 2025 Best Northwest Meat Locker. The award was given by the N'West Iowa Review. 'It's very proud. I mean, this is a lot to achieve here, and it's a lot going on. It's a lot to take care of, and it takes a lot of hours. But very happy with where I am today,' said Jordan Marks, the owner of Jordan's Meat Market. Owner and operator of Jordan's Meat Market, Jordan Marks, said he's had a passion for meat since he was a kid. 'I've been around it my entire life, my family's been around it their entire lives,' Marks said. 'So, I started back when I was like 14 years old. Then I went to Iowa State for Animal Science, Meat Science.' Right after college, Marks opened his shop in Marcus, Iowa, at the age of 22. 'It was a lot of conversations with the Economic Development Board, [in the] city of Marcus,' Marks expressed. 'So it was a lot of talking, a lot of work on the numbers, seeing if it was attainable. And then once we realized it was attainable, [was] when we basically got right into it and started building and then started working right away.' Marks saw major success at one location, so he decided to expand and open up his second shop in Le Mars. 'Mr. Wells came up to us and said, 'Hey, I might have a building you guys are interested in.' And then yeah, we went with it.' After being open for only three years, Marks has already received two awards for his business. Marks believes this is all possible because of two things. The first being his quality. 'Almost all of our products here are made in-house,' said Marks. 'There are very [few] things that we just buy and sell. Like all of our bratwurst here, we use real ingredients. So, like if it's a pineapple bratwurst, I use actual dehydrated pineapple chunks and not pineapple flavoring. We make our own in-house bacon bits with our end pieces of bacon. I'll grind those up and smoke those. Re-cook those, render them down, and make our own in-house bacon bits.' And second, listening to his customers. 'I take a lot of customer feedback into consideration, and if I feel like a change needs to be made, then I'll make that change. This is a service industry, and if you don't provide the right service or a good enough service, what's driving people to come to your business?' As of right now, Marks has no plans to expand his market, but when the time comes, he hopes to open up in the Siouxland area. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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