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Until now, Heritage Foods USA sold online or directly to chefs. They knew that unlike much mass produced meats, Heritage turkeys, hams, steaks or bacon come from small American family farms raising old-fashioned breeds praised for their flavor and their upbringing.

"Our animals are treated well. I've actually been to the farms and we send people to the farm when they ask and send us pictures. Our animals aren't raised indoors, they're all outdoors. Also it promotes biodiversity -- we have all rare breed pork: Berkshire, Red Wattle, Duroc, Tamworth, Glouchester, Tamworth, Old Spot, Large Black. And this is great because they have different flavors, different characteristics of the meat," says Heritage Meat Shop Manager Dan Honig.

The city-based company serves as middleman between these small farms and the city. They buy whole animals, breaking them into cuts chefs want. But there are always leftovers, meaning the new Essex market shop will always offer a weekly special for just $3.99 a pound. And don't skip the overstuffed sandwiches made from superior American charcuterie.

"We're going to try to specialize in American-style prosciutto. And so we have three main people we work with that get our fresh hams wholesale. One of them is Sam Edwards in Surry, Virginia. One of them is Nancy Newsome and the company is Col. Bill Newsome in Kentucky, and the final is Al Benton's Smokehouse which is in Tennessee," says Honig.

Heritage also stocks a handful of American artisanal products like pickles or pasta or whatever they think will be sustainably delicious.

"The director of mail order and I drove up to Maine to work with this lobsterman. We went out on his boat at four in the morning and started pulling traps and packing boxes for our mail order customers. And I was able to bring back lobster I had pulled out of the ocean that day and cook it, in New York," says Honig.