Breakfast | Vegan | Smoked | Chicken | Low Sodium

Top Breakfast Sausage Brands

#1. Johnsonville 

The Brand: Johnsonville was founded by a couple, Ralph and Alice Stayer in 1945. The couple opened a butcher shop and started making sausages from a family recipe that was traced back to the 19th century and it gained massive ground within one year in the town of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. The company expanded into 47 states in the mid-1980s after its sales went up to $50 million by1985. As of 2021, the company already operates in 37 countries.

Need to know: Johnsonville Sausages is reportedly worth $800 million in annual sales and the Stayers family is also estimated to be worth $1.2 billion.

View Johnsonville on Amazon

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#2. Aidells Sausage

The Brand: Bruce Aidells who started as an endocrinologist, founded Aidells Sausage company in 1983. On a research trip to the National Institute of Health fellowship, London, he got dissatisfied with the way sausages were made and decided to make his type of sausage. Chicken, dried apple,salt, fruit juice concentrate(pineapple, apple,peach and pear), spices, celery powder and sea salt are used by Bruce Aidells to make sausage.

Need to know: Aidells amicably left the organization in 2002 to pursue full-time writing and freelancing. 

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#3. Williams Country Sausage

The Brand: Harold Williams started Williams country Sausage with his wife, Hazel Williams in 1958 in West Tennessee, US. Harold and Hazel started selling sausages to families within their neighborhood and it expanded into selling Breakfast and sandwiches to 40 states in the country. The Williams country Sausage is prepared with fresh porks, Spices, Monosodium glutamate (flavor enhancer) and water.

View Williams Country Sausage on Amazon

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#4. Applegate 

The Brand: Chris Ely and Stephen McDonnell created Applegate Farms, LLC in 1987. In early 2019, Applegate Farm launched a new brand that focuses on producing breakfast sausages and chicken nuggets, as well as hot dogs, dinner sausages, sliced deli meat, and bulk deli meat.

Need to know: Hormel Foods Corp. agreed to pay $775 million for Applegate Farms LLC in 2015, alfresco started which is estimated to earn $340 million in sales.

View Applegate on Amazon

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#5. Hoffman Sausage company 

The Brand: Frank W. Hofmann, along with his wife and children, left Bromberg, Germany in 1861 to travel to America. He carried his delicious sausage recipes with him, and the family made their home in Syracuse, New York. Hofmann Brothers, a retail meat market named after Franks’ sons August C. and John Hofmann, was founded in 1879. They worked alongside their father and eventually expanded the firm into a wholesale and retail operation, producing sausage on a wider scale.

Need to know:  In New York alone, Hofmann products can be found in 266 locations. It’s mostly found in New York’s grocery, big box, and convenience stores.

View Hoffman on Amazon

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Top Vegan Sausage Brands 

#1. Field Roasts Foods

The Brand: It was founded in 1997 by David Lee and Richard Lee, a local Seattle chef. Field Roast Foods is a vegan food company based in Seattle, Washington. It began by offering important wheat gluten, red wine, tomato paste, barley malt, fresh garlic, yeast extract, sea veggies, and paprika for sale. Field Roasts Food later added Refrigerated sausages, burgers, and deli slices for sale. 

Need to know: Maple Leaf Foods, a Canadian food firm, announced on January 29, 2018, that it has purchased Field Roast Foods for $120 million.

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#2. Pure Farmland Sausage

 The Brand: The Pure Farmland started in September 2019 as part of Smithfield’s drive into plant-based proteins. Smithfield Foods is a food firm based in the United States whose ultimate aim is to provide “good food. Pure Farmland three foods are vegan and gluten-free, as they are manufactured from full soy protein. 

Need to know: Pure Farmland products are proudly made in the United States with soy protein, coconut oil, natural flavors, and are gluten and dairy-free.

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#3. LightLife Sausage

The Brand: Lightlife was formed in 1979 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and moved to Turner Falls, Massachusetts, in 1998. This is a plant-based food company that manufactures, and markets vegetarian and soy products. Tempeh, burgers, hot dogs, sausages, deli meats, breakfast meats, and vegan ground beef meat are among the plant-based meat substitutes available.

Need to know: In 2017, big Canadian meat company Maple Leaf Foods paid $140 million for Lightlife, and later that year paid $120 million for artisan grain meat company Field Roast.

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#4. Beyond Meat 

The Brand: Ethan Brown founded Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat substitute company based in Los Angeles, in 2009. In 2012, the company’s first items were released in the United States. The company offers plant-based alternatives. Beyond Meat, products are accessible in more than 118,000 retail and foodservice venues in over 80 countries. In December 2017, the company released “Beyond Sausage,” a vegan alternative to pork sausage. The three types of sausage were called Bratwurst, Hot Italian, and Sweet Italian.

Need to know: Beyond Meat had a market capitalization of $9.44 billion as of June 2021. Beyond Meat started alfresco in November 2020 that sales had increased by 2% yearly.

View Beyond Meat on Amazon

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#5. Impossible Foods

The Brand: Patrick O. Brown who is a biochemistry professor from Stanford. Impossible Foods was then founded by Brown in 2011. The Impossible Burger was introduced in July 2016 as the company’s first food from vegetable matter. Many of the same components used in the precooked plant-based sausage patties are the same in the burgers: soy protein, sunflower oil, coconut oil, and soy leghemoglobin.

Need to know: The company plans to IPO or a merge with an acquisition company, to go public. Impossible foods have received $1.5 billion as an investment. 

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Top Smoked Sausage Brands 

#1. Tillamook Country Smoker

The Brand: Tillamook Country Smoker was developed more than 50 years ago on this ancestor’s survival instinct. Art Crossley, one of the co-founders, began selling his unusual jerky made from a particular recipe at his meat market in Bay City. Crawford Smith and Helen Gienger joined Crossley. The three of them collaborated on a business proposal. Beefsteak nuggets, meat sticks, sausages, and jerky chews are all available from the company. Tillamook Country Smoker is a company based in Oregon, USA.

Need to know: Insignia Capital Group acquired Tillamook Country Smoker. The sum of the acquisition remain undisclosed.

View Tillamook Country Smoker on Amazon

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#2. Old Wisconsin Summer Sausage 

The Brand: Thielmann’s, a modest sausage shop owned and maintained by Frank Thielmann and William Stolzman, was the start of Old Wisconsin in 1942. Carl Buddig and Co., a family-owned meat processing company based in Illinois, bought it in the sausage shop in 1981 and the Buddig family still owns it now. 

Need to know: The sausages are handcrafted in the United States using 100% high-quality beef and then smoked over natural hardwood flames until they’re ready to eat.

View Old Wisconsin on Amazon

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#3. Conecuh Sausage 

The Brand: Conecuh Sausage was founded by Harry Sessions in 1947. He developed his own hickory-smoked pork sausage recipe. Sessions worked as a salesperson for a meatpacking business in Montgomery, Alabama, after returning from WWII. People could bring their hogs and calves to Sessions Quick Freeze in Evergreen, have them butchered, and preserve them and their vegetables in his rentable meat locker, which he opened in 1947.

Need to know: The company employs 100 people, produces 35,000 to 40,000 pounds of sausage per week. The company, which features a gift store, is now owned by Henry’s son, John Crum Sessions, and his grandson, John Henry Sessions.

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#4. Hillshire Farm 

The Brand: Fritz Bernegger founded the Hillshire Farm in 1934, New London Wisconsin, with the vision of providing only the best to his clients, from slow-roasted lunchmeat to seasoned smoked sausage. The company introduced smoked sausages to a large percentage of the general public in the United States. Hillshire Farm sausages are horseshoe-shaped and about two feet long. Whether sautéed, microwaved, grilled, or roasted, Hilshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage is low in calories and low in fat.

Need to know: Sara Lee Corporation bought the company in 1971 and split it into two companies: “Hillshire Brands” and “Sara Lee” in 2012. Tyson Foods purchased the “Hillshire Brands Company” in 2014 and is still the brand’s owner.

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#5. Farmer John Sausage

The Brand: Farmer John was formed in 1931 by two brothers, Barney and Francis Clougherty in Southern California. The company began by curing pig bellies and smoking hams, then providing meat rations to American troops. Pork, Water, Sodium Lactate, Salt, Dextrose, Sugar, Flavorings, BHT, Propyl Gallate, Citric Acid are the ingredients used to manufacture Farmer John’s Sausage.

Need to know: Farmer John has a market share of more than 20% in the L.A. area for sausage and bacon.

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Top Chicken Sausage

#1. Bilinski’s

The Brand: Bilinski’s company was founded in 1929, Couches New York. The company is a third family generation business that is currently under the leadership of Stacie Water. Skinless Chicken, Water, Red, and Green Dried Peppers, Sea Salt, Paprika, Fennel Seed, Black Pepper, Organic Onions are ingridients used to make the Bilinski’s sausage. 

Need to Know: Stacie Waters, the CEO of Bilinski’s, started her career in the IT industry after graduating from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree. She later got a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and worked as a national security policy advisor to the US government. She returned to the Capital Region of New York in 2004 to reimagine and build the family business.

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#2. Alfresco Sausage

The Brand: Alfresco Sausage brand was founded by Kayem foods in 1999 when they became the first hot-dog processor to introduce chicken sausage. Sweet Apple, Roasted Pepper & Asiago, and Sweet Italian are just a few of the amazing flavors available in alfresco all-natural chicken sausage. They are gluten-free, contain no artificial ingredients, and have 70% less fat than typical pork sausage. These tasty and juicy sausages are made with lean, skinless chicken meat and only the freshest herbs and spices.

Need to know: Kayem Foods, Inc. is New England’s largest meat processor, producing over 500 items under eight different brand names. 

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#3. Premio

The Brand: Premio was founded in Naples, Italy, 66 years ago with the production of Italian sausage. Marc Cinque, a descendant of the Cinque family, is the current president. Breakfast, chicken, Italian, and international tastes sausage are available from the company. Premio Foods headquarters is in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Need to Know: Premio generates $210 million annually and currently has 456 employees.

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#4. Silva Sausage

The Brand: Manuel Martins, a Portuguese immigrant, immigrated to the United States with his family in 1964 intending to open his restaurant. He quickly found work at a tiny sausage manufacturer in Santa Clara, and three years later, he launched Silva Sausage in San Jose. Manuel and his business partner until 1984, Tony Silva Gomes, chose the name Silva Sausage because it is also the maiden name of Manuel’s wife. At every stage of the sausage-making process, Silva uses fresh muscle meats and all-natural ingredients.

Need to know: Fernando, Manuel’s oldest son, joined the family business in 1984. Fernando took over as president after Manuel died in 1993, and his younger brother Rick joined as vice president. Silva sausage company produces up to 45,000 sausages per day.

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#5. Evergood Sausage Company 

The Brand: Jacob Rauscher, a great sausage producer, relocated his family from Bavaria to the United States. In the Mission District of San Francisco, the Rauscher family launched the “Evergood Pork Store” – a traditional European delicatessen – in 1926. The Rauscher family produced a vast variety of old-world German-style sausages, ranging from Knockwurst to Kielbasa, and more.  Apples, onion, and savory spices like sage and fennel were utilized to prepare the ever-good sausage chicken.

Need to know: Rauscher’s son Walterstartedalfresco, Erlich, and Miller created a manufacturing plant as the demand for Evergood sausages overwhelmed the little business. Ehrlich and Miller took over the company after Rauscher retired in the mid-1970s. Ehrlich left the company a decade later, leaving two generations (now three) of Millers to carry on.

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Top Low Sodium Sausage Brands

#1. Jimmy Dean

The brand: Jimmy Dean Foods was established in 1969 by Jimmy Dean, a country musician, and actor. Dean created the Jimmy Dean Sausage breakfast sausage brand, which was formerly known as “Pure Pork Sausage.” Jimmy Dean Sausage had a successful year. The Jimmy Dean Meat Company soon established itself as a leading manufacturer of high-quality pork sausage across the United States, thanks to its reputation for excellence.

Need to know: It was sold to Sara Lee In 1984. The company was later bought by Tyson Foods. Their products are; Fresh sausage,  Breakfast bowls, Sandwiches, Jimmy Dean Skillets, Pancake and sausage on a stick, Omelettes, Heat ‘N Serve microwavable sausage, Jimmy D’s Breakfast, Jimmy Dean Delights (sandwiches, bowls, and sausage), Jimmy Dean Biscuit Roll-Ups e.t.c.

View Jimmy Dean on Amazon

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#2. Eck rich

The brand: At the age of 17, Peter Eckrich immigrated to America in search of his wealth. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, he established a modest meat market in 1894. Many of the sausages he ate as a kid in Waldsee, Germany were produced there. Peter was proud of what he did. He was rewarded for his efforts. Peter quickly expanded his firm, opening a second shop as well as a plant to supply his expanding wholesale business. Eckrich meats were well-known throughout the United States by 1932 for their superior taste and quality.

Need to know: Smithfield Foods, a part of the WH Group of China, owns the Eckrich prepared meat brand. Eckrich sells smoked sausages, Vienna sausages, breakfast sausages.

View Eck rich on Amazon

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#3. Meadow Creek 

The brand: Meadow Creek Sausage is a family-owned and operated company. It was founded by Peter in the late 1970s, when he began his career as a butcher in the meat industry. Peter was able to travel all around Europe and learn the butcher trade from a variety of instructors while living in the Netherlands. He picked up local recipes and learnt the tricks of the trade. In the early 1980s, he met his wife Sylvia and the two of them dreamed of relocating to Canada. When they and their daughter Chantal relocated to Canada in 1998, they accomplished their ambition. The company grew quickly, and in 2013, they had to ten-fold their operations in Claresholm.

Need to know: Peter retired from the company and allowed his daughter, Chantel take over the affairs of the company.

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#4. Smith field

The brand: The Smithfield Packing Company was formed in 1936 by Joseph W. Luter Sr. and his son, Joseph W. Luter Jr., in Smithfield, Virginia. Smithfield Foods, Inc., situated in Smithfield, Virginia, is a pork producer and food processor that is a fully owned subsidiary of the WH Group of China.

Need to know: Smithfield Foods began its expansion in 1981 with the purchase of Gwaltney of Smithfield, and between then and 2008, the company acquired nearly 40 companies, including Eckrich, Farmland Foods of Kansas City, John Morrell, Murphy Family Farms of North Carolina, Circle Four Farms of Utah, and Premium Standard Farms. Because of its highly industrialized pig production, which confines thousands of pigs in enormous barns known as concentrated animal feeding facilities and controls the animals’ growth from conception through packing, the firm has been able to expand.

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#5. Jennie-O

The brand: Earl B. Olson started the firm in 1940 when he started breeding turkeys. He purchased the old Farmers Produce Company of Willmar, as well as its turkey processing factory, in 1949. It was nicknamed Jennie-O in honor of his daughter, Jennifer Olson, in 1953. Wallace Jerome was also involved in the founding of the Jennie-O organization. Jerome created the Turkey Store Company in 1941.

Need to know: Until 1986, when it was sold to Hormel Foods of Austin, Minnesota, the firm was privately held by the Olson family. Jennie-O Foods, Inc. and The Turkey Store Company merged under Hormel in February 2001 to become the Jennie-O Turkey Store brand. Jennie-O has six offices, five in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin. Willmar/Spicer, Faribault, Montevideo, Pelican Rapids, and Melrose are among the Minnesota cities with sites. Barron is home to Wisconsin’s sole factory.

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