Although the holidays may look a little bit different this year, Union-based meat purveyor D’Artagnan is doing its best to provide the finest product to its consumers—and just in time for the holiday season. The company sells over 20,000 turkeys between November 16 and November 26, including the Green Circle Turkey, a product exclusive to D’Artagnan, that first debuted last year.
Ariane Daguin founded D’Artagnan 35 years ago, and has provided restaurants and consumers with fresh and delicious meat products ever since. And it isn’t just New Jersey that gets to enjoy them. Their products are shipped all over the country.
During the ongoing pandemic, Daguin and her team have worked hard to accommodate the new circumstances—and that includes changing D’Artagnan product to meet the needs of their loyal customers. Because there will be smaller holiday gatherings this year, Daguin made sure to reduce the size of the birds they offer, as well as including turkey and chicken breasts as options, so there’s no need to buy the entire bird if you don’t want to.
One of their best selling products, the Green Circle Turkey, is completely unique to D’Artagnan. The birds with the green circle label are raised on family farms in Pennsylvania and fed a vegetable-based diet, with scraps collected from surrounding restaurants.
“[The vegetables] give a varied diet that makes for very nice, tight and nutritious muscle,” says Daguin. “It gives an extraordinary taste to the bird.”
With 21,000 turkeys prepared this year, including organic and heritage breeds in addition to Green Circle, Daguin says they are close to selling out. Despite their ability to continue selling products at a rapid rate, Daguin recognizes, and knows the feeling, of the struggles that the restaurant industry has been through.
“All that volume does not compensate for the loss of all the restaurants,” says Daguin. With an uncertain future for restaurants and other small businesses around the state, it is very difficult for D’Artagnan to forecast their flocks and provide for places that are unsure of how long they’ll be able to stay open.
“Our company is named after D’Artagnan, from The Three Musketeers. Their motto was ‘one for all and all for one,’” says Daguin. “Culturally, that helped us a lot. I have a great team and I am thankful for that.”
D’Artagnon Foods is located at 600 Green Lane in Union and ships their products all over the United States. Check out their special recipes online to spruce up your holiday dinners, desserts, and appetizers. Order your holiday meats, cheeses, oils, and more at www.d’artagnan.com