Ole’s Up Nort meat processing in Henning receives USDA certification

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Beef, or better yet, meat—it’s what’s for dinner. And there may be few places better to get a slab of meat than Ole’s Up Nort in the heart of Henning. 

Since opening in late 2019, Ole’s Up Nort has created quite a following in the area. From unique flavors of brats, thick cuts of steak and a smoker that sends the aroma of grilling food throughout downtown Henning, the custom meat processing facility has continued to a steady growth right in the heart of Henning.

That will likely only continue as Ole’s Up Nort recently received its USDA certification. The federal regulation means Ole’s Up Nort can now officially sell its custom meats at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and even over state lines. The business can also purchase its own cows right from the field to sell to current and new customers. 

Jamie Olson, who is the owner of Ole’s Up Nort, said the process of getting USDA certification has been a challenge, but one he credited the entire team at Ole’s Up Nort for getting accomplished. In his back office are binders full of papers that all had to be completed by employees at the meat processing facility to get the federal certification completed. 

“It was a team effort to get this done,” he said. 

Prior to the certification, Ole’s Up Nort could sell its meat on its store shelves, but nowhere else in the region. Olson said he is currently working on developing a route to include gas stations, grocery stores and a number of other businesses to sell Ole’s Up Nort meats. Several restaurants in the area will also be featuring Ole’s Up Nort meats on its menu in the near future. 

While the process to getting certified was a challenge, Olson said it was just one more hurdle the group at Ole’s Up Nort faced over the years. That includes being told the building, which had sat vacant for a number of years, would never be certified to be a meat locker again. 

“When we started out, we were told this building would never be used again, bulldoze it.”

Jamie Olson

Not only has the building been certified to reopen as a meat locker, but now there is a USDA inspector on the premises to inspect the meat being processed. The meat will soon be hitting the shelves across the region.

Ole’s Up Nort is located at 510 Fergus Ave. in Henning and can be contacted by calling 548-6204 or stopping by the store.