Berlin Meat Market ‘Taking It To Another Level’

Berlin Meat Market ‘Taking It To Another Level’
A variety of premium meats and a full deli are among the offerings at J&M Meat Market in Berlin. Photos by Bethany Hooper

BERLIN – With years of experience in the food service industry, the owners of a full-service meat market are continuing to bring the best products to Berlin and surrounding areas.

Located on William Street, J&M Meat Market features a butcher shop serving premium meats, a full deli, locally made products and more.

Owners Eric and Heidi Johnson opened J&M Meat Market in December of 2017. Heidi Johnson said the decision to open the market followed years of experience in the food service industry.

Eric Johnson currently works in the food division at Holt Paper, and his wife spent years working for a food broker company. She also noted her father’s experience in managing restaurants.

“I was born into the business,” she joked.

Heidi Johnson said she and her husband decided to start a business in Berlin in an effort to provide the best meat products available.

“Because my husband is a wholefood sales rep, we’ve been able to have access to wonderful meat products …,” she said. “We thought this area really needed to be able to enjoy a lot of these products that you typically cannot get because it is wholesale. So we wanted to bring it to retail.”

J & M Meat Market offers USDA-certified, all-natural and premium black angus beef – aged 30 days – from Creekstone Farms, organic chicken, New Zealand rack of lamb and ground lamb, fresh ground beef, homemade sausage, all-natural pork and thick-cut slab bacon, to name a few.

“We are unique in that we give the customer fresh products,” she said.

For example, J&M Meat Market serves hand-cut meats and fresh ground beef daily. It also offers its own blend of black angus ground beef with steak trimmings and its own steak burgers.

Heidi Johnson said patrons can also find a full grill and deli featuring homemade soups, paninis, subs, burgers and market sides, including chicken salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, coleslaw, crab dip, mac n’ cheese and shrimp salad, to name a few.

“We just added our grill,” she said. “So we now offer fresh prime rib cheesesteaks, fresh chicken cheesesteaks and our sausage and pepper sandwiches. We’re taking it to another level. So far, the response has been incredible.”

Heidi Johnson added that those ordering from the deli can enjoy their meal in the adjacent Berlin Meat MarketDiningRoomdining room.

“If they would like to order lunch and sit down here, they can,” she said.

Patrons can also find locally made products – including local produce, honey, pickles, jams and spreads – from the Berlin Farmers Market, which is held around the shop each Sunday.

“If they can’t make it over on Sunday, they can shop here during the week,” Heidi Johnson said.

J&M Meat Market also offers catering services.

“We basically accommodate any budget,” Heidi Johnson said. “We work with them to make sure they can get what they are looking for.”

The proprietor said products sold at the shop cannot be found at any local grocery store.

“Prime meat is not an easy thing to come by,” she said. “Grocery stores are changing the way they are cutting their meats and where they are getting their meats from. But our main goal is to offer a better choice of meat.”

Heidi Johnson said it is that mission that earned J&M Meat Market a Best New Business award as well as awards from Gov. Larry Hogan and Senator Mary Beth Carozza.

J&M Meat Market is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, call 443-513-3194 or visit www.jmmeats.com or the shop’s Facebook page or Instagram account.

About The Author: Bethany Hooper

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Bethany Hooper has been with The Dispatch since 2016. She currently covers various general stories. Hooper graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 2012 and the University of Maryland in 2016, where she completed double majors in journalism and economics.