Global recipes spice up Nevada sausages

In an era of fast food franchises, a company that cites old-fashioned pride of family tradition as its strength has become a rarity.

However, it's still alive at The Sausage Factory, in business for 26 years at the same location, housed in half a dozen buildings that comprise a small industrial center just east of Highway 395 in Carson City.

Every package bears the proud label: "Made in Nevada" making the company a showpiece of the Made in Nevada program, part of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.

Each year The Sausage Factory ships 1.5 million pounds of product, says Joseph Tonino, vice president and son of the company founder.

Some sausages are made from family recipes; others are discovered by people from around the world whom the company hires to come up with products.

The factory hired a headhunter to locate its production manager, Reto Wandeler, a native of Willisau, Switzerland, who was found working in Canada.

With manufacturing, sales, distribution and outside sales, The Sausage Factory employs 38.

A fleet of trucks delivers within a 250-mile radius of Reno to restaurants and casinos, and to grocery store chains such as Scolari's, Raley's, and Albertsons.

Product is shipped, frozen, to distributors in other states.

Sausage is considered a commodity industry, says Tonino, but "we don't follow that path.

This is a niche product." No fillers or marginal meats stuff these sausages; only prime cuts of beef and pork are ground.

The challenge of running a sausage factory? The same as for any business, says Tonino: shipping product, meeting payroll.

But in the meat market, price fluctuations are always a concern.

Meeting USDA standards requires daily discipline to pass daily inspections.

Rooms of equipment are completely cleaned and sterilized after each use.

The company employs a full-time quality control manager to deal with government regulations.

"We go through torture compared to what you read in the newspaper about restaurant inspections,"Tonino says.

In future, the company is looking to increase sales in the 11 Western states."We need distributors of unique products,"Tonino says."Something no one else has."