This November, Caughman’s Meats will celebrate 70 years of providing quality meat products to the Lexington area.
“We started out as a wholesale and processing plant in November 1955,” said Caughman’s Meats co-owner Alacia Quinton. The Meat ‘n Place opened in 1992 to serve the public.
Quinton’s parents Billy and Marguerite Caughman started the business in 1955. Of the Caughman’s children, Alacia and her brother Ronnie run daily operations for the business.
“We’ve gotten much, much bigger,” Quinton said about the growth of her parents’ business. “I’m sure our parents would be proud.”
Quinton noted how much Lexington has grown since her parents founded Caughman’s Meats.
“The first actual slaughterhouse was in downtown Lexington, but my daddy thought that it would be better to move it out of the town limit as a courtesy, so he moved it two and a half miles from the town limit at that time. Now the town limit has grown and comes up to our facility.”
In the span of its 70 years, Caughman’s Meats has expanded its products and services. Today, they offer fresh cuts of pork, beef, poultry, as well as smoked items, deli items, seafood, and cheeses. Hash, pudding, and scrapple are also made fresh and sold. One of their most popular products is their onion sausage.
“We make our own sausage – anywhere from 10 to 15,000 pounds a week. Sausage is our big product all year round. It used to be more of a winter product, but now people grill it all year. It’s really popular for tailgating.”
Quinton believes that the success and longevity of her family’s business reflect customers’ desire for fresh cuts of meat.
“Things have gotten so commercialized now, there are not a lot of real meat cutters in grocery chains. But customers can walk into our meat market and get their meat freshly cut any way they would like. Grocery store meat is usually precut,” Quinton said.
“We take pride in our product. Our dad used to say we can sell our product the first time, but we depend on our product to sell itself the second time. We want people to know that we appreciate their business, and we hope to be able to serve them for a long time. Ronnie and I would also like to thank our employees, past and present, for their service and dedication. We are a great, big family at Caughman’s,” Quinton shared.
Caughman’s Meats
164 Meat Plant Road
Lexington, SC
(803 356-0076