R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press At Frapp’s Meat Market in Escanaba, employee Terry McPherson rings up custoemr Andy McGuire’s selection, which includes some of the store’s top-selling products, like the pack of five single-pound ground beef tubes.

ESCANABA — Frapp’s Meat Market at 430 13th St. South — founded by Jeff Frappier and operated by Frappier and fiancee Emily Oman — provides a variety of fresh meats, including a range of flavors with recipes cultivated primarily by Jaymie Frappier, Jeff’s daughter. The business specializes in providing custom cuts to their customers, and ask that special orders are made three to five days in advance to ensure the product has time to be processed, cured, and packed. Frapp’s also processes game for hunters and farmers, provided cuts are given to them without bones.

After working as a butcher for another shop for over 25 years, Jeff had gained the skills and knowledge to open a business of his own. In October of 2018, Frapp’s opened at the former home of Kobasic Market. The building had most recently been owned by Ron Blevins, who had purchased it from Dave Kobasic.

While the market had been more of a convenience store, the focus of Frappier’s store is now a range of fresh, gourmet meat, but there are a few aisles of choice grocery items as well. For the last three years in a row, Daily Press readers have voted Frapp’s the “Best of the Best” for meat, and the business holds a few awards for deli and convenience store, too.

“Basically, our specialty here is, you know, our customized cutting. Everything’s fresh. We make everything that we have, and if there’s a certain way somebody wants it, we get it for them,” said Oman. “We definitely have a very big clientele base … we have a personal relationship with all of them.”

When people want a specific order — particularly for something like bratwursts, of which Frapp’s makes numerous flavors, like mushroom and swiss, loaded potato, dill pickle and ranch, pineapple and teriyaki, pizza, philly swiss, jalepeno and cheddar, bacon ranch cheddar, cudighi, onion and more — Oman explained that it can take between three and five days because of the necessary steps involved. Upon the arrival of fresh meat delivered to Frapp’s twice a week, “we have to cut it all, and we have to throw it in our grinder, and we have to mix it all up, and then you have to let it sit because you want to let it cure, and it has to stiffen up.”

Vacuum sealing can only be done after a certain point. For this reason, and because they have a small staff — ten total, five of whom are full-time — Oman said preorders are a big help. It also ensures that someone who wants a bulk quantity of something specific, like the maple-bacon-blueberry breakfast sausage, gets exactly what they’re looking for.

“We do a lot of those kinds of specialties, which is really cool, and I think that’s kind of what puts us apart (from) a lot of other places,” said Oman.

The core products at Frapp’s, found around the “horseshoe” perimeter, include gourmet slim jims, summer sausage, marinated chicken and a few other things in one cooler; fresh meat at the deli counter, where hot lunch is also served during the week; and on the other side, frozen ground beef, the massive brat selection, several types of patties, lamb, pork, sloppy joes, taco meat, seafood and creations like tortilla-encrusted chicken stuffed with pepperjack cheese.

“Jaymie is like a genius behind our stuffer,” said Oman, crediting her as the one responsible for the variety in recipes. “She runs that smokehouse and everything for us as well.”

Other items that might be at home at a barbecue, like cheese curds, baked beans, and some salads, are found in the coolers, too. In the colder months, Frapp’s offers homemade soup.

Meat bundles, available for preorder, are popular; a few package options give variety for a family or larger party. Frapp’s offers venison processing and packing in a number of forms, but ask that meat is brought with no bones.

Grocery products line the few center aisles. There are cookout accoutrements like relish, buns, and marinades and seasonings, including a number from 906 Outdoors. Other local products, like maple sugar from Olson Bros. Sugar Bush (based in Bark River) and syrup from Rock River Gold (Rapid River) feature on the shelves, as do a range of snacks, sweets, and convenience items.

“We’re very proud to be part of the community. We really are, and our customers are amazing. if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here,” Oman said.