Our Story
We believe you deserve to know where your food comes from and the people who produce it. That’s why we, Kevin and Sadena Pearce-Escobar, want to share our story with you. We share an appreciation for the simple things in life; the sparkling morning dew, a gentle breeze in the afternoon after a long hot day, the soft nicker of our horses at feeding time, the sweet laugh of our baby girl, and the view of our cattle grazing on open pastures. E Bar Cattle Company was born from our intention to simplify what it means to raise cattle for beef. We looked to our heritage for answers, to rediscover what those that came before us knew about raising cattle and hoping to honor our combined ranching heritage. Our families, Escobar and Pearce, share a considerable and extensive history in the cattle industry in both Florida and Cuba that stretches back many generations.
The Pearce Family was among the first pioneers to settle the Territory of Florida nearly 200 years ago, before Florida became a state. Sadena’s great-great-great grandfather, Capt. John Mizell Pearce, was the first generation of his family to be born in Florida. The year was 1834. He later settled the Kissimmee River Valley, establishing a vast and prosperous cattle ranch. Only one of his many accomplishments in life, but one that has left an impression on generations of Pearce’s. Several branches of the family have continued to play a part in the Florida cattle industry to this day.
As much as the Pearce Family history is about the pioneering spirit, grit and determination, the Escobar Family story is about freedom, courage and perseverance. Francisco and Bernardo Escobar, father and son, started a their family ranch in Cuba early in the 1900’s. They raised fine horses, especially for the time period, and later cattle on a few thousand acres of rich native grasses and the temperate climate of Cuba. Sadly, in one day, the future of the family changed forever. When Castro came to power, soldiers came to tell them they no longer owned their ranch and it now belonged to the government. At the age of 54, Bernardo Escobar left the only home he’d ever known to secure freedom for his wife, small children, and every generation of Escobar’s to come. The clothes on their back was all they were allowed to take when leaving Cuba, even their wedding rings belonged to the government. Yet, the Escobar’s persevered. Bernardo did not let being in a foreign land where he didn’t speak the language hinder his ability to provide for his family. He worked for ranches in south Florida before securing a position as the cattle foreman for U.S. Sugar. At five feet tall, he was a true giant of a man.
Although we haven’t faced the same challenges our pioneering ancestors did, we have faced considerable obstacles on the path to opening E Bar Cattle Company. We have both learned from each and every mistake and success over the years and are thankful for them all because each one has led us to where we are today. Our business is truly grass-roots as well as family owned and operated. We are not only partners in life as spouses and parents, we are partners in E Bar Cattle Company. We balance each other in every way...the tasks that one of us doesn’t enjoy or is less proficient at, the other enjoys and/or is skilled at. Kevin has always been an executor of his ideas and passions in life, a man of action, always determined and working tirelessly to find a way to make our dreams a reality. He proposed after three months and less than six months later we were married. Sadena had never met anyone like Kevin and her heart was his nearly 15 years ago. Her entire life, Sadena has cared for and managed animals and brings decades of experience to E Bar Cattle Company. She is a planner and a thinker, the artist of the partnership in many ways. She slows him down and he speeds her up to get where they need to be in the perfect way and at the perfect time.
We believe many things at E Bar Cattle Company. We believe in raising cattle as God intended them to live. Our cattle are born on open pastures, unconfined and free to roam and graze on nutritionally rich native and improved grasses; wholly raised on Florida rain and sunshine. We control the flavor profile of our beef by never over grazing our pastures. These management practices ensure that your beef will never taste earthy or bitter. We also believe in raising our cattle to maturity in order to build the flavor profile and texture of your beef. We choose to use low-stress management practices on our cattle and never use growth hormones because we believe in allowing our cattle to grow and mature naturally. We believe that land is precious and we have pasture grazing practices that allow improved grasses and native forage the opportunity to thrive. The environmental result of these practices is an improved ability of the vegetation to absorb more carbon, filter clean water, and photosynthesize more sunlight, providing a greater habitat for wildlife.
Lastly, we believe that in a world where things have gotten complicated, especially where our food is concerned, our purpose is to simplify what it means to put quality, grass-fed, pasture raised beef on your table. Simply put, our mission is to honor our heritage, land, faith and others through our Florida grass-fed beef.