So I walked into the St. Lawrence Market this morning looking for some grass fed beef liver. I was immediately drawn to the Witteveen's store by the giant poster that advertised local, organic, antibiotic-free, and grass fed meats. I asked one of the employees if they had any grass fed beef liver, and he said their beef liver was from cows that were grass fed and then topped off with grains to add in some fat. I then asked if he was 100% sure that it was grass fed. He checked with his co-worker who also assured me that it was indeed grass fed. I purchased 1.8 Lbs of liver for $28.62 believing that it was grass fed.
Once I returned home, I visited the website of the farm that produces the meat. To my utter disbelief, the farm openly states that their meat is corn-fed. I immediately called Witteveen back and enlightened them on the fact that their meat is NOT grass fed. The responses, as I anticipated were "Oh, we were told it was" and "we didn't know" and "the owner is not in today but you can call back on Monday". Needless to say I retuned the liver to the store and got a full refund. As a goodwill gesture, they offered me free meat to make up for the lie. I politely declined and left the store.
I later visited Wittevens website which turned out to be equally misleading. The website suggests that Witteveens is a 5-generation old dutch family run company. It's not. It's owned by a guy named Sainu Kanichirakal - clearly not from Holland.
I am ok with the fact that they don't sell grass-fed beef liver (it's very hard to find), but don't BS your customers! read more