The Team
Justin Herd
Head Butcher and CEO
Growing up in a family where the foundation for a great time meant all you needed was great food, great music and great people, Justin felt he would be able to extend at least one of these branches to the surrounding community by opening The Local Butcher. After spending six years in Los Angeles, he and his wife, Julia Lafranchise, moved to Denver to start a new chapter in their life. With family already in Denver, Justin and Julia knew Colorado was the ideal place for them and their future. While pursuing his MBA at The University of Denver, Justin began laying the foundations for his ideal butcher shop. When The Central Market concept came across his desk, it fit right in line with his desires. Not only can he offer the freshest and best meat to the community, he can do it right next to eleven other vendors doing the same thing in their respective trade. He received his BA from Wabash College in 2006.
Ryan Kennett
Manager - Denver Central Market
I was born in South Carolina but moved to Indiana at an early age, where I played a lot of sports and quickly gained an appreciation for the outdoors. I started working at a young age, mostly being volunteered by my father to do chores for the older neighbors. By the time I was 14, I was working my first restaurant job in a small Mexican kitchen. From back of house, to front of house, and everything in between, I have worked in basically every food service position that exists. Right before packing up and moving to Colorado, I even spent 3 years running my own food truck, Smokey Meat Sweats.
You may think I am tired of food service, but quite the opposite. I’m excited to be apart of The Local Butcher family. I cherish the small team feel, while still getting to display the various skills I have learned from my 15 years spent preparing food. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with customers, and helping them find beautiful proteins for their meals. The highlight of my job is when a customer returns satisfied with their purchase, particularly when they used a cut of meat that was new to them.
Jerrilyn Herd
Head of Prepared Foods
I love to cook! I started cooking when my husband and I began our family and fine dining out was no longer an option. I began to understand the importance of well-seasoned food coupled with top of the line ingredients. As Julia Child taught me, “no recipe is any better than its worst ingredient.” Over the past 35 years, I’ve learned the subtleties in flavoring food to maximize the dining experience. I am thrilled to be a part of The Local Butcher and am committed to passing on my beliefs that best ingredients = best dining!