Calvetti Meats highlights "quality cuts" for long-term vision
This is a special feature from PAX International’s June 2023 WTCE issue on page 32.
Using only the finest raw materials, Calvetti Meat’s top-notch butchers prepare a wide range of premium cuts of high-quality products for its airline customers
Jamie Calvetti Meats, Inc. is a second-generation owned food processing business that specializes in providing meals and entrees in the premium travel catering sector. The company was started by Jamie Calvetti’s father, Jim Calvetti in 1974 — nearly 50 years ago. Using only the finest raw materials, the company’s top-notch butchers prepare a wide range of premium cuts of high-quality products for its airline customers. From hand-trimmed fillet mignon to custom pork loin chops, Calvetti Meats offers a wide-range of products appropriate for many different menus.
Jamie Calvetti, President of Calvetti Meats, tells PAX International that part of the company’s ongoing success has a lot to do with the “long-term vision” that comes with being in business for more than forty years.
“We know where to source products and how to process it efficiently,” Calvetti says.
Calvetti Meats specializes in sous vide cooking. The method, which means “under vacuum” in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking the contents to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method.
“The advantage of sous vide is that we can take some of the less tender cuts of beef and cook them at low temperatures for long periods of time,” Calvetti says. The company’s short ribs are cooked for 16 hours and the beef brisket is cooked for 12-14 hours in a sous vide water environment that ensures the product is “fork-tender” when served. By cooking meat in its own juices at a precise length of time the products come out consistent with a very even cook and a promise that the food will be moist, juicy and tender.
Some of the most popular items from the company include short ribs and chicken breasts. The various forms of chicken breast (all prepared via the sous vide method) come with different sauces and flavourings, with some unseasoned options available to airlines that want to add a different sauce or flavouring through their own catering kitchen. The company’s fillet mignon and beef brisket are also very popular. Calvetti Meats prides itself on hand-selecting ingredients to complement the natural characteristics of corn-fed, 100 percent Black Angus beef.
“They haven’t invented a new animal in years,” Calvetti jokes, quoting the line his late father and founder of the company used to say. “But you can always find new variations on a theme.”
In addition to its culinary operations, Calvetti Meats also portion-cuts its own products, something that helps ensure such a high quality of product. Butchers work on-site in the production facilities based in Chicago. This integrated system is something Calvetti says helps the company stand out.
“We have our chefs, our culinary skills, we’re integrated and we have experience,” he says.
Calvetti Meats offers an extensive line of chef-designed or inspired entrees that range from long-cooked Midwest USA Black Angus sous vide beef short ribs and antibiotic-free boneless chicken breast to slow-cooked halal lamb Osso Bucco and sous vide boneless duck confit.
