Posted on Oct 1, 2023
This Kansas City beef company is more than its wagyu hot dogs, with a mission focused on veterans...
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When it launched in 2016, KC Cattle Company made it a priority to hire veterans like founder Patrick Montgomery. With a retail store in Parkville and a ranch in Weston, they were put on the map with an all-beef wagyu hot dog named the best in the nation by Food & Wine.
Patrick Montgomery struggled to find his way after his service in the U.S. Army, he said. Now on a new mission — his venture KC Cattle Company — Montgomery is helping other veterans at a similar crossroads.
“The military does some things really well and they do some things really poorly,” he explained. “One of the things they do a really poor job of is preparing the younger enlisted soldiers for that transition back to civilian life. I had a solid plan — I’m a smart guy and I’d done my research — but the part I didn’t anticipate was the loss of camaraderie and friendship; and the purpose that I had when putting on a uniform and chasing down bad guys.”
So when Montgomery launched his wagyu beef company in 2016 — which has taken off, thanks to its now-famous beef hot dogs, and has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, and on The Today Show, he noted — he decided to employ only fellow veterans.
Patrick Montgomery struggled to find his way after his service in the U.S. Army, he said. Now on a new mission — his venture KC Cattle Company — Montgomery is helping other veterans at a similar crossroads.
“The military does some things really well and they do some things really poorly,” he explained. “One of the things they do a really poor job of is preparing the younger enlisted soldiers for that transition back to civilian life. I had a solid plan — I’m a smart guy and I’d done my research — but the part I didn’t anticipate was the loss of camaraderie and friendship; and the purpose that I had when putting on a uniform and chasing down bad guys.”
So when Montgomery launched his wagyu beef company in 2016 — which has taken off, thanks to its now-famous beef hot dogs, and has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, and on The Today Show, he noted — he decided to employ only fellow veterans.
This Kansas City beef company is more than its wagyu hot dogs, with a mission focused on veterans...
Posted from kcur.org
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Posted 8 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Although Montgomery considers KC Cattle to be a steak company, he knows it was the all beef wagyu hot dogs that put the business on the map. In spring 2019, the company made a test batch, he said, which initially didn’t go over well.
His team sent a pack to Food & Wine magazine for its specialty hot dog taste test, but they didn’t think anything came of it until August when his phone started blowing up with hot dog orders.
The Food & Wine editors picked KC Cattle Company’s hot dog as the best saying, “This hot dog blew us away. The umami! The spice! The beefiness! It was basically like eating a steak in a bun, or an elevated ‘tube steak,’ if you will.”
“It was right before the pandemic and people were sick of talking about politics and arguing about politics,” Montgomery explained. “So I think for this little hot dog article, it was just perfect timing right. It was the No. 1 article on Apple News and Yahoo and MSN for about 24 hours. And we had 12,000 orders roll in and roughly a million people visit the website.”
The hot dogs have remained especially popular, he noted, during this higher inflationary environment when steaks can be a bit pricey.
“Customers can still try our hot dogs and brats and our ground beef,” he added. “So it’s been huge for us. We thought we were a steak company. But I did a news interview a couple weeks ago and this lady kept referring to us as a hot dog company. And I was like, ‘I guess. I mean, we do sell a lot of hot dogs.’”
..."Although Montgomery considers KC Cattle to be a steak company, he knows it was the all beef wagyu hot dogs that put the business on the map. In spring 2019, the company made a test batch, he said, which initially didn’t go over well.
His team sent a pack to Food & Wine magazine for its specialty hot dog taste test, but they didn’t think anything came of it until August when his phone started blowing up with hot dog orders.
The Food & Wine editors picked KC Cattle Company’s hot dog as the best saying, “This hot dog blew us away. The umami! The spice! The beefiness! It was basically like eating a steak in a bun, or an elevated ‘tube steak,’ if you will.”
“It was right before the pandemic and people were sick of talking about politics and arguing about politics,” Montgomery explained. “So I think for this little hot dog article, it was just perfect timing right. It was the No. 1 article on Apple News and Yahoo and MSN for about 24 hours. And we had 12,000 orders roll in and roughly a million people visit the website.”
The hot dogs have remained especially popular, he noted, during this higher inflationary environment when steaks can be a bit pricey.
“Customers can still try our hot dogs and brats and our ground beef,” he added. “So it’s been huge for us. We thought we were a steak company. But I did a news interview a couple weeks ago and this lady kept referring to us as a hot dog company. And I was like, ‘I guess. I mean, we do sell a lot of hot dogs.’”
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