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.

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