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Q& JIM Kerr A
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or more than 50-years, Reiser has been synamous with sausage production. MPJ talks sausage with Reiser’s Jim Kerr, a noted sausage and meat processing expert. How has the demise of the local butcher affected the industry?
In the past, the fresh meat shop had offered their unique twist to traditional sausage and smoked meats. Today we’ve become more dependent on the larger processors to carry on the regional style products as the small butcher shops close their doors. In almost every industry there is talk of how the Millennials are changing the market. Do you see this in sausage production? Yes thanks to the Millennials the sausage industry has seen a surge in the specialty sausage items, dried cured meats, and fermented sausage. Charcuterie platters are being offered at microbreweries and other restaurants that caters to Millennials. From your perspective, what do successful sausage companies have in common? The successful and growing medium size and family owned processors have recognized that they cannot compete on volume and have focused on old fashioned style products. Most of these companies have built a regional trusted name that has a following. Natural casing products are a large part of their product lines. What are people looking for today in sausage making equipment? Our customers are looking for automated equipment that takes less skilled operators to use (virtually impossible to find trained sausage markers and meat cutters) the majority of the workforce is coming from temp employment agencies. Casing 34 | Meat Packing Journal | November~December 2016
yield, give-away, and labor savings are always a point of discussion in the beginning but support before, during, and after the sale is the most important. Are people interested in buying complete systems from grinder to packaging, or do they buy equipment for a specific purpose and combine it with existing gear? I would say they do both. The meat industry has eliminated industrial engineers and look to us for support. We are being asked to layout complete processing lines that include formulation through packaging. It’s easier for a customer to work with one company that can supply a total solution. Customers ask us to perform equipment and line audits for them. The outcome of an audit might be to recommend changing out a piece of equipment or adding a piece to remove a point of congestion in the process. Do most customers buy sausage making equipment for where they are today or do they take a long range approach?
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