ROCKLAND — As of today, premade sandwiches and deli salads are available at Wiggins Meat Market on Main Street on the south side of Rockland. Employees of businesses in walking distance of the market have been asking for the premade lunch options since the store opened May 9.

In response, owner Bob ‘Jess’ Wiggin, his manager Deborah Jacobus, and her son Mack Williams (assistant manager) removed the deli meats and filled the cooler with quality quick-grab items prepared by Jacobus. The corn beef that resides within its sandwich is cut, sliced and cooked in the market, while the other foods are prepared using the ingredients already sold in the shop.

In the near future, Wiggin plans to grill hamburgers and cheeseburgers for customers during the noontime lull.

A customer can purchase within the store all the ingredients necessary to create an entire meal. Meat and eggs, cheese, bread products, condiments, drinks, sides and dessert. When the local produce is ready for harvest, Wiggin plans to fill one cooler with produce from a friend’s farm. As the seasons change, so too will the options.

Though not all the meat and poultry is from local farms, seven of them do hail from the area and are labeled as Maine products. According to Wiggin, founder of Jess’ Market two doors down, farmers seek him out to do business.

None of the meats in the meat cooler have ever been frozen, according to Wiggin. This includes the Prime Striploin Steak from out of state, which is hung for 30 days before sale.

Wiggin cuts, grinds, and forms hamburger patties (21 in an hour) and freezes them for potential sale to cruise ships and other entities.

“There is a lot of stainless steel in here,” Wiggins said, referencing his slicer, meat grinder, vacuum packer, and grill. All the meat is cut in the market.

Wiggin has lived in Rockland for the past 66 years. For 21 years, he has operated Jess’ Market, a fish store originally intended as a meat market.

According to Wiggin, the fish kept taking up more and more space, until he gave up trying to sell meat after the first year.

Wiggin has owned the building this new market is in for 15 years. It has been home to a Thai restaurant, and most recently, Conte’s. When Conte’s vacated the space, the family renovated it, and Wiggin commenced his retirement job.

Deborah Jacobus, a nurse by trade, keeps the lunch options available. Mack Williams, a three-tour veteran of the Middle East, is currently with the National Guard where he uses his special training with rifles to educate other soldiers.

Check out Wiggin’s Facebook page for more details about the market, which does not sell any of the same items as Jess’s Market.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.