Neil interviews Brian Sapp about his career and the Fatback Pig Project. Sapp explains Fatback began in 2011 by converting an underused 1996 emu plant in Eva, Alabama into a hog slaughter and fabrication facility, backed by partners including Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q and others, based on a “three-legged stool” of customer, supply, and distribution. Early plans struggled due to small-plant costs and higher-priced pork for foodservice, but the business was later revived around 2020–2021. Sapp recounts entering meat in 2004 via the University of Florida meat lab and judging, then being hired by Will Harris to build and run White Oak Pastures’ processing plant in 2008, learning he needed help to scale. He discusses SMA’s value, cash-flow pressures, and leaving slaughter in 2023 for relief, briefly consulting before returning as Fatback’s operating partner, and mentions Burning Tree Smokehouse/Barbecue opened in Birmingham in March.
Links
Topics
01:15 Fatback Origin Story
02:18 Three Legged Stool
03:33 Small Plant Reality Check
05:26 Will Harris Connection
06:08 From Flower Farm
06:54 Meat Lab Breakthrough
10:12 Meat Judging Culture
12:22 Skills Needed Everywhere
13:49 Welding Gets Hired
15:57 Keys To New Plant
19:14 You Need Help
20:08 Associations Matter
21:40 Keeping SMA Alive
22:16 Why SMA Matters
23:31 Welcomed Into SMA
24:18 Profit and Pricing Mindset
25:42 Cash Flow Reality Check
27:14 Scaling White Oak Pastures
28:27 Delegation and Hiring Trust
30:52 Leaving to Own Something
33:36 Consulting to Fatback Return
34:43 Slaughter vs Assembly Economics
36:50 Hard Work Lessons
38:07 Wrap Up and Plugs
