Story originally appeared in Carmel Magazine

KINCAID’S BUILDS COMMUNITY THROUGH QUALITY, SERVICE & TRADITION

Writer / Ashley Dykton Photographer / Theresa Skutt

Photo caption: Left to right: Joseph Dugdale, Joe Dugdale, Joseph Dugdale, Steve Armstrong, Jack Cherry and Jacob Zuckerberg

Making connections through meat, Kincaid’s Meat Market recognizes that its products are more than just food; they are a way of bringing people together. Whether for a simple family dinner or a meal for a special occasion, Kincaid’s Meat Market knows that it is more than just a local butcher. It is entrusted by the community to provide quality meats that will be served to connect people and create special moments.

Having proved itself as a trusted provider in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood for the last 105 years, Kincaid’s Meat Market seized the opportunity to expand its business to the Village of WestClay to fill a void in this community-centered Carmel district, bringing fresh, premium-grade meats and locally sourced offerings.

Throughout the decades, Kincaid’s Meat Market has remained focused on creating an experience built on relationships and trust. Kincaid’s understands how important small businesses are to the footprint of an established neighborhood. In a digital world where people are always on the go, Kincaid’s prides itself on creating and building relationships and gaining the trust of the community.

“We work on a name-to-name basis. We don’t even communicate much with our regular clientele anymore because we know what they’re going to ask us for. Essentially, when I see certain people, I just start performing the task that I know they’re going to ask for. That is a very rare place to set foot in. If you’re new to that environment, it is incredibly intimidating, but one of the things we always try to do is have a personal conversation and introduce ourselves. You can ask me to cut this or to slice this, and you can ask me to redesign this because what you are looking at is the most commonly requested thicknesses and shapes of all of these items. But that may not be your favorite, and you need to know it’s OK to ask me that, and it is not a burden on my day. That’s a very important thing. It’s up to us to introduce that. If somebody wants a boneless, skinless chicken breast, at this stage, we’re still saying, ‘Do you want me to flatten them, cut them up or dice them or something like that?’ And the customers are like, ‘You’ll do that?’ And I’m like, ‘Of course. That’s what we do,’” says Joe Dugdale, owner of Kincaid’s Meat Market.

As a full-service butcher and meat market, Kincaid’s Meat Market offers a full range of beef, pork, lamb, veal, chicken and seafood. All of its meats are carefully prepared in separate areas to prevent cross-contamination and meet food safety standards. Quality is very important to Kincaid’s, which carries only Indiana pork or Indiana-raised pork, sources its chicken from Gerber’s Poultry in Ohio, which produces all-natural, antibiotic-free chicken raised on Amish farms, and offers fresh seafood through trusted suppliers. Kincaid’s Meat Market also carries beef from Miyazaki, Japan, as well as only USDA Prime-graded beef items, offering the highest-quality primal cuts along the spinal column, including filet mignon, rib-eye, New York strip, T-bone, porterhouse and bone-in rib-eye. Kincaid’s Meat Market also grinds all of its beef fresh for customers.

“We set ourselves apart because we only carry the highest defined qualities there are. That’s not to say that other people don’t do the same thing, but that’s the only thing we’re willing to sell. I won’t go get something that is of lesser quality just because you asked me to. The only thing we’re comfortable selling is the thing we know is of the highest quality, and we’ve built trustworthiness inside of our clientele. They know we have gone out of the way and bent over backward to make sure the things that they are able to purchase have been scrutinized qualitatively,” says Dugdale.

Kincaid’s Meat Market also supports other local businesses by carrying specialty items such as Gable Bagels’ cold deli salads and bagel chips and Angelo’s Italian Market’s fresh pasta and sauces. Kincaid’s Meat Market also sells a wide variety of barbecue sauces, spices, dips, bread, condiments, Boar’s Head deli meats, artisan cheeses, Graeter’s ice cream and more.

One thing about Kincaid’s Meat Market is that it doesn’t want the shopping experience to be overwhelming. The staff is very knowledgeable and willing to educate and help customers. The employees don’t take offense at special requests and pride themselves on going above and beyond for customers because those moments create a lasting impact and have cemented Kincaid’s century-long legacy.

“Preserving Kincaid’s legacy is super simple: You don’t automate anything, and you tolerate everything. When I first started working here, I was 17, and I’m 39 now, so most of my life has been spent behind these walls. The environment I walked into seemed a little bit rudimentary and less systematic, and I came to understand that’s the only way our customers would appreciate that we do business with them. They want to speak with us about items they’re going to put in their mouths and in their bodies, and that’s how we build relationships with our clientele, and that’s how we preserve the legacy that’s over 100 years old now. We haven’t rewritten the rules. We aren’t trying to reshape the wheel, and thank goodness these animals don’t change shape because the recipes that have come from generation to generation are still accessible,” says Dugdale.

Kincaid’s Meat Market’s newest location is at 2159 Glebe St., Carmel. More information about its products can be found online at kincaidsmeatmarket.com.

“All we need is some do-it-yourselfers with a grill and a range that want to get them dirty. There are restaurants around that’ll make you a whole meal if you want them to. If you want them to do it for you, you got that, and if you want to do it yourself, you got us.”