May the Forth Be With You.

I couldn't get too far into this story about the revival of Buzz Buttered Steaks without thanking a special group of people who are probably unknown to most grocery shoppers. As interest in Buzz Buttered Steaks grew over the past couple of years, and we became tempted by the idea that there really is still a place for this product in the market, we realized that to bring them back would require a huge investment of resources, time and energy. While we had spent the last six years being literally BEGGED to bring the product back, some of us wondered if that was just a devoted (crazed?) minority or if a significant number of people really did want Buzz Buttered Steaks to be part of their lives again.

We wanted a way to test the market and find out. To our rescue came Charles "Charlie" Forth, owner of Forth's Foods. Mr. Forth owns and operates a number of Food Fair stores around the state and operates a good-sized warehouse in Huntington, WV that services those stores and a number of other independent grocers. Mr. Forth and his staff, including Meat Manager Mike Mazzone, President Tim Forth and Pat Wray, agreed to take our product on without a retail box. We shipped them the product in bulk 'foodservice' boxes (like a restaurant would use) and their deli managers in each store 'tray-packed' them in foam trays with a plastic wrap.

From March to December in 2008, Food Fair stores sold more than 13,000 pounds of Buzz Buttered Steaks and we had all the confidence we needed. Today, Buzz Buttered Steaks are available in every Food Fair in WV and if you find a store that doesn't have them, kindly ask the meat manager and he should be able to get them for your next visit.