MBH Meat Purveyors BEEFS UP

Posted by estiator at 15 April, at 22 : 16 PM Print

COVER STORY

George Chrissikos leads his family-owned business to national success.

By Michael Kaminer

Or maybe it’s because of MBH Meat Purveyors’ spotless, state-of-the-art, 20,000-square-foot, USDA-certified warehouse, equipped with the latest laser-cutting machines. Or it could be the company’s 12 refrigerated fleet trucks, all brand-new and gleaming. In fact, it’s all of the above, combined with an old-fashioned approach to customer service and an insider’s understanding of the restaurant business and what its hardworking proprietors need.
“What keeps us going is we have always cared about quality, always keep up quality, and will always prioritize quality,” Chrissikos tells Estiator from his office in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. “We’ve also been laser-focused on service, to make sure we’re giving customers the best experience around.”

MBH Meat Purveyors serves about 350 commercial clients in the United States, including restaurants, hotels, delis, diners, and nursing homes. Its home-delivery business, which launched in 2020 during the pandemic, has grown to about 500 households that rely on MBH Meat Purveyors for food to serve their own families.
While family-run MBH Meat Purveyors is among the most advanced purveyors in the industry when it comes to technology, the company has not lost its focus on the basics, Chrissikos says. “First, we deliver on time. It sounds simple, but it’s extremely important. Our drivers, who have been with us almost a decade, deliver triple-A service. They’re polite and courteous.”

Though MBH Meat Purveyors has built relationships with some of the most prominent names in restaurants and hospitality, “it’s important to me that we treat everyone equally no matter the size of the account or the volume of their business. They’re all equal, and treated equally important.”
Chrissikos has imparted those lessons to his three children, who now work in the family business. His son Peter, 34, is vice president of operations. Theodora, his 36-year-old daughter, oversees advertising and marketing. And son Kosta, 20, just entered the family business.

“My entire family makes huge contributions to the company,” Chrissikos tells Estiator. “The company wouldn’t be what it is without my son Peter, our VP. He runs the daily operations. MBH Meat Purveyors is a USDA-inspected facility that complies with all of the rules and regulations.”
Theodora’s work includes the company’s extensive online marketing, which she oversees with an outside agency. “We do a lot of marketing online,” Chrissikos says. “Under Theodora’s direction, we have a web company that does pop-ups every day and keeps our social media, Facebook, and Instagram presences very active and strategic.”

Chrissikos’ children are also helping him take the business in fresh new directions. In late 2024, Peter and Kosta started a retro-themed food truck, Classics by MBH, repurposing a new 2023 Ford F350 26-foot state-of-the-art truck with all brand-new equipment. “It’s a 1950s theme, with smashburgers, fries, cheesesteaks, hotdogs, and chicken sandwiches,” Chrissikos says. “Both of my sons had this great idea about the food truck. They came to me, I gave it some thought, and I gave them the OK to do it. The truck has been a big hit at parties all over our region. It’s been so successful, with so many bookings, that we’re ordering two more trucks.” The meats, of course, come from their company, MBH Meat Purveyors.

Chrissikos’ own success came after a long journey―literally. Born in Karpenisi, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1985. For nearly 15 years, he worked in restaurants in New York before opening his own restaurants and diners in the city, along with several cafes in New Jersey.
“It was in my blood,” he says. “Years ago in Greece, my father had a grocery, fruit, and vegetable store. And from the age of 11 until about 15, I worked in a butcher shop, and that’s how I became passionate about meat products.”

Chrissikos still returns to Greece several times a year, where he visits his family. Chrissikos always had his eye on trends in meat, and what customers were seeking on menus. In 1999, when he was general manager of a diner in Manhattan, buffalo meat became available on a wider scale in the United States. “I was always into bodybuilding and lifting weights, so meat was an important part of my diet. I tried the buffalo burgers, was blown away by the flavor, and became the first one to put buffalo burgers on a menu in New York,” he recalls. “They were a huge hit, and people loved them.”

Soon, “I was approached by the person who was delivering the buffalo burgers where I was managing the diners. We became friends, and he approached me one day about getting into a wholesale business together selling the buffalo burgers,” he says. “I tried it, I liked it, and I quit the restaurant business. We started selling buffalo meat and veggie burgers, and we became so successful that we launched a full-line meat company.”

At some point in 2005, the company, which was called Europa Meats, was approached by a giant national company, and Chrissikos and his partner sold the business. A friend recruited Chrissikos to work as an independent sales agent for another meat company; his work was so successful that Chrissikos bought the business in 2013 and created the company that has grown into today’s MBH Meat Purveyors. “What I brought to the market was my experience, the trust I had from all of my clients, and the love that I had for the business, and still do,” he says.

More than a decade later, more than 95% of MBH Meat Purveyors’ longtime clients have remained customers, Chrissikos says. Still, “the business has changed over the years. It’s harder these days. Prices have increased by nearly 40% since Covid.” While “people are eating more chicken and turkey, I haven’t seen consumption of beef decline,” Chrissikos says. “In fact, they’re eating more beef than ever.”

Chrissikos employs about 75 people at MBH Meat Purveyors. Their employees have been a big part of the company’s journey, he says. Many have been with MBH Meat Purveyors from the beginning, with some original warehouse workers now at the level of managers. “Our team is very loyal to me,” Chrissikos says. “MBH always takes care of our employees and their families.”

What advice would Chrissikos have for someone who wants to start out in his industry? “It’s definitely different times. But if you love the business, and you’re ambitious enough, you can do anything. You have to have years in this business so that people trust you. Relationships have been the number-one priority for the business, and the key to success.”

What has he learned in his decades in business? “What I’ve learned is how to adapt,” Chrissikos says. “Through all of these years, not all days were happy days. We had rough times, and we came through them. I learned how to thrive. I learned a lot about people. And most importantly, I made a lot of good friends over the years.”

Today, with MBH Meat Purveyors firmly established as an industry leader, Chrissikos is only looking forward.
“We’re thinking of expanding the company regionally. We’re looking at growing our direct-to-consumer business even more. The future looks bright.”

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