Authentically Wyoming: Wyoming Buffalo Company offers wide selection of locally-sourced products

Since the spring of 1995, Wyoming Buffalo Company has proudly served Cody and the local community, offering a wide variety of the finest locally made and sourced products in the area. 

From fresh wild game to candy and wind chimes, the company has made it their mission to market any and everything that is “authentically Wyoming.”

Purchasing the business

Today, Wyoming Buffalo Company is owned and operated by Lisa del Valle. Originally from San Diego, Calif., Lisa shares she fell in love with Wyoming during a family trip to Yellowstone in 1988. 

“Back then I thought, ‘I want to live here.’ So I went back to finish college and moved to Cody right after graduation,” she says. “I absolutely love it here – I love the weather, I love the people and I love the town. It’s wonderful.”

Eventually, Lisa purchased Wyoming Buffalo Company, but her business venture has not come without its challenges. 

“The business was new to me,” she explains. “I had homeschooled my kids so I had a teaching degree, and I wasn’t prepared for the business aspect of purchasing the store.” 

However, with the help of the Park County Travel Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Wyoming Business Council and other members of the community, Lisa quickly caught on and has continued operating the successful store. 

The sample store

Since purchasing Wyoming Buffalo Company, Lisa has made it her personal mission to expand the company’s offering of local and regionally made products, while minimizing those sourced from out of the country. 

The company’s products – including a wide variety of summer sausage, jerky, frozen wild game, salsa, barbecue and other sauces, coffee and tea, candy, jewelry, decor, ornaments and other handmade artisan products – can be purchased in-house at their location in Cody or online at wyobuffalo.com.

Although online shopping is convenient, Lisa encourages individuals to swing by the store when they get the chance. Nicknamed “The Sample Store,” visitors will have an opportunity to taste a number of products on any given day. 

“We offer samples daily, so anytime someone comes in they can try out our featured products of the day,” Lisa says. “Today we are sampling sweet buffalo summer sausage, buffalo jalapeño summer sausage, regular and jalapeño barbecue sauce, a couple of hot sauces, three locally-sourced peanut butters, three honey butters and some coffee.” 

Building relationships

On top of everything she has learned since purchasing the store, Lisa notes she has also built some lasting relationships. 

“My favorite part of owning the store is getting to interact with people, both locals and new visitors,” she shares. “I make friends every day, and I get a lot of peoples’ phone numbers. I can travel all over the country and stay with people I have met in the store. It’s a lot of fun.”

She continues, “We like people to feel like they are family when they come in the store, and we treat them as such, which ends up building great friendships.”

For more information or to purchase products from Wyoming Buffalo Company, visit wyobuffalo.com.

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.