Brett Rizzi built his brand on being a ‘no bull guy.’ It’s paying off.

Brett Rizzi is a “no bull guy.”

“I don’t give it and I don’t take it. I don’t lie. I don’t tell somebody what they want to hear,” says Rizzi, owner of No Bull Prime Meats. “I tell them the truth.”

That ethos, he says, is a big part of the success of his business: a vertically integrated operation that specializes in — and guarantees with confidence — dry-aged meats, from beef to bison to pork and goat.

Rizzi has four ranches just south of Moriarty, each housing different animals — about 1,500 head in total — whose meat is processed at an Albuquerque facility and sold at his North Valley store. He takes great pride in some of his offerings, including the popular Japanese Wagyu, of which he has about 80 cattle at his ranch genetically fit to produce that meat.

Rizzi’s attention to detail and his passion for selling high-quality products are helping the business expand in new and unique ways.

No Bull Prime Meats, for instance, had to move its office operations to an area near Downtown from the North Valley shop to make room for the Wagyu beef, which he says continues to grow in popularity. And Rizzi even has plans to use “frozen meat vending machines” in his store to give people, especially those who work odd hours, 24/7 access to locally sourced products.

“You know what I really sell? Trust,” says Rizzi. “I sell trust and honesty in the best meat product almost anywhere in the United States, and they can fact-check that.”

Tell me the story behind your company’s name.

So, when someone says, “Is it prime?” Yes. “Is it dry-aged?” Yes. “Is it organic?” Yes. “Is it clean meat?” Yes. No bull. That’s where the name came from. I’m a no bull guy. I’ve been a no bull guy my whole life.

How do you think the name and the company’s offerings have landed with customers?

They want the real deal. They don’t want people to lie to them. They want honesty, whether they want to hear the truth or not. They hear it and they realize, “Well, that’s the truth.” I think the name “No Bull” is significant in the way we raise our children, the way we have a relationship and the way we live our lives. It’s a no bull concept.

What’s the deal with these frozen meat vending machines?

I’m not open on Sundays ever. I’m not open on holidays. People are going to have access to our store 24/7, and it’s going to be frozen meat vending machines in our store. So after hours, you can take your credit card, Apple Pay, tap, and a ribeye will drop out of a box, frozen. You can get hamburger meat. You can get grass-fed. You can get Japanese Wagyu. That’s our new expansion: frozen meat vending machines.

It’s big in Germany. They have some in New York, and we’re going to bring it to No Bull. That’s our expansion. Costco, Keller’s, Rio Rancho Meats — all good companies. They’re not 24/7 access. Doctors and nurses, health care workers, they get off at midnight and want to get pork bacon for the morning or they want to get a ribeye because that’s their kind of nighttime, they can go by the store outside.

What was the cost to get this vertically integrated business going?

Just this processing facility, I put $2 million of my own money in it. I have about $4 million in the ranches and a couple of million dollars in the store. And we are debt-free.

Did you think No Bull Prime Meats would ever get to this point?

Every company I started, we would call it a niche business. And this is really a niche business because we dry age, we do our own processing. Did I think it’d get to this? I really never know where it’s going to go. We are so diverse. We have everything, right? We have prime dry age. We have Japanese Wagyu dry-aged (beef). Now we’re doing grass-fed, grass-finished (meat). We have everything. So did I think it was going to be like this? Probably not. I didn’t know. I don’t know. But I’m passionate about what I do. I’m very into what I do. I have great employees, great owners and managers. Janelle Brasher is part owner with me. So we have a good system.

What keeps you motivated?

I’m motivated by my customers. I’m motivated by what people say to me. Customers, they thank me for feeding America. I’m one of the guys who helps feed the American people. Very proud to be American. Very proud to be a citizen. What keeps me motivated is (that) I know I’m feeding you — Americans of all types. I help provide the food chain.

Who inspires you?

God.

How do you spend your free time?

With my wife and my horses.