Country Fresh Meats in Weston expands
Demand for Country Fresh Meats is so big it's adding to its facility to keep up.
Country Fresh Meats in Weston expands Demand for Country Fresh Meats is so big it's adding to its facility to keep up. Check out this story on wausaudailyherald.com: https://wdhne.ws/1KlS3fs
Melanie Lawder, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 7:42 p.m. CT Sept. 18, 2015
Country Fresh Meats is located at 9902 Weston Ave., Weston.(Photo: Melanie Lawder/Daily Herald Media)Buy Photo
WESTON — If you've ever stopped by a convenience store while filling up your car with some gas in Wisconsin, you most likely have come across products from Country Fresh Meats in Weston.
You may have even picked up some of their cheese or jerky for a snack — and you wouldn't be the only one.
County Fresh Meats' products, which include cured meats, snack sticks and cheese, are thriving in the convenience store business. In fact, they're doing so well that the family-owned-and-operated company is expanding its facility at 9902 Weston Ave., Weston.
"We'll pretty much double our size," said co-owner Matthew Bayer.
You can find Country Fresh Meats products in convenience stores throughout Wisconsin and the U.S. (Photo: Melanie Lawder/Daily Herald Media)
Starting in the next several weeks, the business will break ground and begin construction to add an additional 14,000 square feet to the east of its current building. This is the third time Country Fresh Meats has expanded or moved into a larger space since the Bayer family took over the company in the 1980s.
And it's all due to the company's convenience store snack line and business, said co-owner Mia Bayer. About 80 percent of its business is in convenience stores, she said.
"Even though we've expanded a lot in the past 10 years, we're kind of on top of each other," Mia Bayer said. "We've pretty much outgrown our capacity here."
The extra space from the expansion will allow Country Fresh Meats, which makes all of its products at its Weston location, to make its processes more efficient and to more than double the amount of goods it produces, Matthew Bayer said. The added square footage will be chiefly devoted to packaging and cooler space, and will likely result in the company adding roughly 10 more employees over the next five years, Matthew Bayer said.
From left: Matthew Bayer, Leonard Bayer and Mia Bayer stand in the storefront of Country Fresh Meats in Weston. Country Fresh Meats is a family business that is expanding. (Photo: Melanie Lawder/Daily Herald Media)
The company's products aren't limited to stores in the Badger State. Presently, Country Fresh Meats has eight or nine nationwide distributors who are dispensing their products to more than 15 states throughout the country, Mia Bayer said. Its products are in states all over the country, including Montana, Colorado and Washington.
In fact, it's not uncommon for the Bayer family to receive word from friends or other family members who've found Country Fresh Meats products in surprising locations.
"People will travel around, send us pictures and they'll be in South Dakota or somewhere and they'll say, 'Hey we picked up a (package) of your product,'" she recalled.
The Bayer family anticipates its company's expansion to be completed in the winter of 2016. For more information on the business go to countryfreshmeats.com or call at 715-359-1311. You can purchase Country Fresh Meats products at various convenience shops or at the business' own storefront at 9902 Weston Ave., Weston.
Country Fresh Meats offers a wide variety of sausages, meats and cheese. (Photo: Melanie Lawder/Daily Herald Media)
Going Out Reporter Melanie Lawder can be reached at melanie.lawder@gannettwisconsin.com or 715-845-0607. Find her on Twitter as @mel_lawder.
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