Seminoles create own beef brand

By The Tampa Bay Business Journal

TAMPA — The Seminole Tribe of Florida said it is partnering with other Native American tribes to offer its own brand of beef to be sold at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.

The plan is part of a joint venture with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut, a news release said.

The beef will come from cattle raised and processed by Native Americans, and the packaging will feature the Seminole Tribe of Florida logo. It is to eventually be distributed to large hotel chains, U.S. military bases, retail establishments, institutions and other food-service outlets, in addition to Indian casinos and restaurants.

A major buyer of the Seminole brand of beef is New York-based ARK Restaurants Corp., which operates seven fast-food facilities at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood food court.

The Seminole Tribe has already partnered with a Native American meat processing company in Wichita, Kansas. McGreevy’s Mid West Meat Co., a fourth-generation, family-owned business, is operated by President Timothy McGreevy, a Sioux Indian and member of the Lower Brule Tribe of South Dakota. The business plan calls for McGreevy to process cattle from the Seminoles and other tribal-owned cows, including his own, under the Seminole Tribe of Florida logo. It will be distributed through West Palm Beach-based Cheney Bros.

The Seminole Tribe operates the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa.