Your brand. Our smokehouse.

Stittsworth Meats · Bemidji, Minnesota · Since 1940

On this page

• 1. Why brands use a co-packer.
• 2. Pick your fit.
• 3. Our smokehouse capabilities.
• 4. From inquiry to first production run.
• 5. Discretion is part of the service.
• 6. Who we’re NOT a fit for.
• 7. FAQ.

1. Why brands use a co-packer.

Most meat snack brands don’t own a USDA-inspected facility. They can’t — the capex is in the millions and the operating knowledge takes generations to build. What they do is design a brand, develop a recipe, and find a co-packer to make the product.

Stittsworth is that co-packer for a small set of brands. We’ve been making real sausage and smoked meat for five generations, today in our USDA-inspected Turtle River facility. The same equipment and recipes that produce Stittsworth-branded product can produce yours.

2. Pick your fit.

Co-packing.

You bring the recipe (or develop it with us). We make it to your spec under your brand. Your packaging, your label, your name. You control marketing, distribution, and sales.

Best for: established brands wanting to launch a new SKU, D2C startups scaling past their kitchen, restaurant brands turning their signature into retail product.

Private label.

You pick from our existing recipes (or modest variants). We produce under your label. Faster than co-packing because product development is already done.

Best for: grocery chains wanting a store-brand SKU, gift companies needing a meat product to round out their box, regional brands launching their first meat line.

3. Our smokehouse capabilities.

• Emulsified Hot Dogs & Wieners — beef, bison, 8oz retail packs (fresh or frozen). Fine-grind process for smooth texture, species-specific fat targets, real wood smoke.
• Snack sticks — beef, pork, beef-pork blends, sheep casings, various flavors (including with cheese curds)
• Summer sausage — 1-lb and 2-lb logs, fibrous casing, multiple flavor profiles. No starter cultures, more beef than pork, no fillers.
• Beef jerky and strips — whole muscle, sliced, marinated, smoked, vacuum-sealed. Fresh (not dried-out) jerky.
• Bratwurst — fresh or cooked, natural casings, retail pack or bulk. 60% beef / 40% pork, real wood smoke (oak, hickory, cherry), no artificial flavors. 120-day shelf life. 12 oz / 4-link retail pack.
• Rope Sausage / Ring Bologna — premium beef & pork, natural casings, authentic snap and smoke.
• Smoked bacon — thick-cut, applewood or hickory
• Ground Beef Patties (4 flavors) — 1/3lb Bacon & Cheddar, Steakhouse, Plain Lean, Jalapeño & Cheddar. 2 patties per pack, hand-pattied for texture, whole muscle 100% beef, special bloom packaging, 1 Year Frozen, All Natural, Minnesota Grown.
• Game Meats — ground elk, venison (label approvals completed). Wild game processing expertise.

Real wood smoke, whole-muscle quality, five generations of craft. Watch the full commercial →

4. From inquiry to first production run.

1. Discovery call.

You tell us your product, your volume, your timeline. We tell you whether it’s a fit for our capabilities and our schedule.

2. Recipe development or matching.

Co-pack: we work from your recipe or develop one together. Private label: we walk you through our existing recipes and tweak as needed.

3. Pilot run.

Small production batch for sampling, packaging approval, and shelf-life testing.

4. Production agreement.

MOQs, pricing, lead time, packaging, labeling, IP terms. Signed before first commercial run.

5. Ongoing production.

Scheduled production runs to your forecast. We make, you sell.

5. Discretion is part of the service.

We produce for brands you would recognize, and we don’t publish their names. Your program is yours — your recipe, your spec, your customer list. Client references are provided directly, on request, once a conversation is underway.

6. Who we’re NOT a fit for.

We’re a real butcher shop, not a 50-million-pound contract manufacturer. We’re not the right co-packer for:

• Brands needing 100,000+ unit production runs
• Brands wanting the lowest possible cost regardless of quality
• Brands building around mechanically separated meat or extruded products
• Brands needing extremely long shelf life through heavy preservative loads

We’re the right fit for brands building around real ingredients, real recipes, and a real story.

Let’s talk about your brand.

Tell us your product, your volume, and your timeline, and we’ll tell you whether it’s a fit for our capabilities and our schedule.

Part of the Wholesale Buyer’s Guide series. See also: Private Label overview.

Stittsworth Meats · Bemidji, Minnesota · Since 1940