Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Bierschwale.
Patrick, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My family has always been into ranching. Growing up my grandfather had cattle and a few bison. After he passed away my father sold all the cattle off and raised only bison. After college, I had a regular day job for a while. Then I managed a gym and fought mma for a few years. People were always asking me where they could get bison meat because I was always eating it. Then one day it clicked that there was a business here. It didn’t take long for me to realize that selling meat was better in the long run than getting punched in the face for a living. I bought my first bison from my dad and started to sell meat to people I knew. The business didn’t really start to take off until I started selling at farmers markets. The first farmers market I sold at was the farmers market on grand parkway in Katy.
From there, I added more markets and hired employees to run booths. After about a year, I was able to quit my job at the gym and run my business full time. Since then we have added many other types of meat that is all pasture raised and grass fed. Katerra exotics is now at about eight farmers markets around Houston each week. In 2016, I decided to open the Katerra Market in downtown old Katy. It gives our customers access to local farmers market meat, produce, eggs, honey, and much more.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it’s been tough. Starting up a business from scratch is never easy. Saturday is our best-selling day so being away on Saturday mornings is hard because sometimes I miss out on my kid’s activities. I have 5 kids so there is always stuff going on. And at the katerra market, 3 months after we opened the city tore up all the roads around my store.
Customers would have to park a block away at the end of the street and dodge heavy equipment to walk to the store.
This went on for 10 months. Add that with losing so many markets and product during Harvey and this has been a trying year.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Katerra Exotics – what should we know?
We sell meat. All of our meat comes from animals we raise. They are all pasture raised and grass-fed animals or we trap them in the wild. We believe in raising the happiest healthiest animals around. I’m known as the bison guy. It’s what I started with, it was my nickname when I was fighting. You can usually find me in a t-shirt that just says bison on it. I raise lots of animals but the bison are my favorite.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Not giving up. The success is never easy and it has taken 5 years to get where I am today but I’m not where I need to be yet. That and customer service. I love seeing my customers faces and knowing their names. I know that raising my animals is directly helping customers live a healthier lifestyle.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5627 Third Street
Katy, TX 77493 - Website: www.katerraexotics.com
- Phone: 281-665-2525
- Email: pat@katerraexotics.com
- Instagram: @katerraexotics
- Facebook: facebook.com/katerrabison
- Twitter: @katerraexotics
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