BRONX, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 21, 2025--
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Acquiring Golden Packing will allow Baldor to vertically integrate meat processing by combining its high-end sourcing with expert butchering while maintaining the brand’s reputation for excellent service and strength in logistics. This integration will expand Baldor’s selection of premium, portioned meats, offering its chef customers both labor savings and consolidation on product deliveries.
“For decades, our customers have trusted us for high-quality fresh food. Adding meat processing has been a part of our plan since we sold our first piece of protein,” says TJ Murphy, Owner & CEO of Baldor Specialty Foods. “With veteran meat guru Mark Pastore on the team, I knew it was the right time to move forward in the search for a partner. With Baldor’s sourcing, procurement, and delivery capabilities paired with Golden’s cutting and dry aging expertise, we will be scaling a cut shop that meets our customers’ growing needs around meat and bringing wheels to the great business Golden has already created.”
To support its growing protein category, Baldor has strengthened its team with key hires. Mark Pastore, who has more than three decades in the meat industry building programs for foodservice and retail including as President of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, joins as Vice President of Business Development, leading protein sales expansion and increasing Golden Meat Co.'s visibility on the East Coast. Kevin Lindgren, previously Director of Protein Merchandising at Baldor, will now serve as Director of Golden Meat Co., focusing on operations and integration. Baldor also welcomed John Winters DiMarco as Protein Business Development Manager, and Daniel Nguyen as Senior Protein Supply Planner.
“I’ve always loved Baldor’s focus on high-end products and service, and I was eager to build a meat brand here at that same level, with a premium portioned-steak program,” says Mark Pastore. “TJ and I immediately clicked, and when we walked into Golden for the first time, and saw their precision and service, we knew they were the right partners for us.”
Golden Packing’s legacy begins in the 1920s on Little West 12th Street in Manhattan—an area today known as the Meatpacking District. That business gained a second life in 2020, thanks to David Bernstein, a great-grandson of the original owner, and his co-founder Jerry Zwernemann. Bernstein and Zwernemann together have more than 60 years combined in the meat industry. Today, Golden has more than 150 customers, including many of the highest-end steakhouses in NYC.
The founders of Golden Packing will stay on—as will their staff of 35, including butchers and drivers—to operate the business and build out the Baldor offerings.
"Even with how large Baldor is, it doesn't feel like we are partnering with a corporation—it feels like a family. We have found a like-minded organization that is as committed to their customers as we are," says David Bernstein. "This is a great day for our business, and we are excited to see Golden's business accelerate as part of Baldor, with the opportunity to sell our meat up and down the Eastern Seaboard."
Golden Meat Co.’s sales will be processed through Baldor platforms with delivery through the company’s existing trucking operations. Baldor’s extended breadth of product offerings will be available to existing customers and previous Golden Packing customers will now have access to all of Baldor products.
“Baldor’s investment in Golden was inspired by our customers, hearing about the challenges caused by labor shortages and the difficulties getting high-quality center-of-plate ingredients,” says Benjamin Walker, Chief Revenue Officer. “It’s our goal to make our customers lives easier. And that means being able to deliver everything they need to succeed—from produce to dairy to grocery to the best meat in the world, sourced from premium Baldor partners, like DemKota, Joyce Farms and Niman Ranch—all on a single delivery. This is a big unlock for us and our customers. We can’t wait to see meat on every order.”
Golden Meat Co. product offerings will include a full line of meats both dry aged and fresh, prime and high choice, all custom cut and portioned to customers’ needs. In line with Baldor’s philosophy of sourcing, Golden will continue to expand its vendor partnerships with a focus on connecting customers with products from farms that prioritize flavor and humane raising of animals.
Golden Meat Co. has officially joined Baldor’s inventory lineup of over 6,000 items across produce, grocery, bakery, dairy, meat, poultry, and fish. Chefs interested in learning more about Baldor’s new premium-cut beef offerings can visit the About Golden Meat Co. page and the Golden Meat Co. products page on Baldor’s website.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
