Tribe's beef deal with Whole Foods ends

A deal for the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming to sell organic, grassfed beef to Whole Foods Market Inc. has fallen through, a beef distributor said Wednesday.

Panorama Meats Inc., which bought the beef from the Tribe and sold it to Whole Foods, said the agreement ended in March when tribal officials asked for a 29 percent price increase.

"That's a heck of a jump in one fell swoop," said Mack Graves, CEO of Vina, Calif.- based Panorama.

Graves said the increase was more than Whole Foods wanted to pay.

Officials of the Tribe and Whole Foods didn't immediately return phone messages.

Panorama was buying about 40 head per week from the Tribe, Graves said. Whole foods, based in Austin, Texas, was selling the beef at its stores in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Utah.

"It was just a shame that the deal fell through," Graves said.

"They're good people, they really are."

The deal, struck in April 2009, called for the Tribe to get $1,400 per head. Panorama said at the time it was about 25 percent more than conventional beef fetches.

Graves said Panorama temporarily bought beef from California ranches to make up for the loss of the Northern Arapaho supply, with Whole Foods' consent.

Graves said he found other ranches in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming to supply organic, grass-fed beef and is now selling their products to Whole Foods.

Graves said he is also talking with a New Mexico rancher about also supplying beef.

The Northern Arapahos raised the beef on 595,000 acres of certified organic areas of its Wyoming ranch. Whole Foods was the Tribe's first major retail customer. Previously, it had sold its meat to conventional or small markets.