Five Questions with Fritz Usinger, President of Usinger’s Famous Sausage

Fritz Usinger is a fourth-generation sausage maker, businessman, and steward of one of Milwaukee’s most enduring family enterprises, Usinger’s Famous Sausage. The great-grandson of company founder Frederick Usinger, he grew up immersed in the traditions of the family business and began working in the company’s operations as a teenager.

After earning a degree in Meat and Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1980, Usinger joined the company full time and advanced through a variety of leadership roles, including plant operations, purchasing, manufacturing, and executive management. He became president of the company in 1988. 

Under Fritz Usinger’s leadership, the company has balanced modernization with an unwavering commitment to traditional sausage-making methods that date back to the nineteenth century. He has overseen facility expansions, operational improvements, and national growth while preserving the original recipes, smokehouse techniques, and Old World craftsmanship that have made Usinger’s a Milwaukee institution since 1880. He has been inducted into both the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame and the National Meat Hall of Fame.

Q: What was it like growing up in your family? And did you always know you wanted to join the family business?

Usinger: “Well, at the dinner table every night you heard about what was going on at work. I had four sisters, and all of them worked here at some point in their lives. So, from a very early age, you heard what was going on, and that creates a lot of interest and a lot of comfort and familiarity with the company. We used to call it the Wiener Works.”

“From an early age, I knew I was going to be here. My parents didn’t say ‘Oh, you’ve got to go into the family business.’ There was never any of that. I started working here over the summers, starting when I was 16 and then through high school and college. It just became part of the deal. I was working side by side with a lot of the employees. And it was like, ‘Well, I'll teach the boss' kid how to do this.’ They felt pride that they got to mentor me.”

Q: Those interactions with colleagues are probably some of the most special moments you’ve had. Is there an interaction that has really stuck with you over these years and influenced how you even operate the business?

Usinger: “After college, I had the opportunity to work with two or three German-trained sausage masters who had come here after World War II. These are individuals who at 14 years old got kicked out of their houses and had to go learn a craft in Europe. So, they were degreed master sausage makers. Being able to learn from those guys was unbelievable because you don’t have European sausage makers coming over to America anymore. They had so much knowledge. They were craftsmen. I was able to learn from those hands-on craftsmen and not just the textbook stuff.”

Q: What are some of the most important lessons that you learned from your father and grandfather growing up in the business under them, and how has it shaped how you run the business?

Usinger: “I think the most important thing I learned was the product recipes. Because we’re a multi-generational Milwaukee company, we don’t change them. You have people eating your product all the time, so they’re very familiar with it. Any deviation of the recipe or the process will get called out. You’ve got to stick to the recipe and the ingredients. And if it’s not right, it doesn’t go out.” 

“We say that you’re only as good as your last batch. So, you really must pay attention. One of the things we’ve done for generations is take two sausage breaks every day for everybody in the building. We all take a moment to sample the product. That's a key to our business. Our employees are our front line. So, it’s important that the people that are making the product are also eating it because that gives them pride in what they're producing.”

Q: Milwaukee has really been your home for all these years. What about the city has made it the perfect place to grow this legacy business?

Usinger: “First of all, I don't think we've ever considered going anywhere else. Second, it's a whole bunch of things. It's having the available talent and labor. It's the raw material and supplies. People don't realize that Wisconsin is a dairy state, and when those dairy cows are done, something happens to them, right? They don't just disappear. They get processed into sausages and hamburgers and things like that. And a big piece of sustainability is the cycle of animals. That's important. That's what brought immigrants here because the climate was like Germany. The fact that you had dairy, farmland, and a population. You could make sausage, and those people would support you.”

“We’ve been right in the heart of Milwaukee since we started. The Usinger’s original plant is on MLK Drive, formerly Third Street. And the building dates back to the 1870s. Many generations ago, this was the main shopping district for the German-speaking people of Milwaukee. So, this is where people came and shopped either daily or a couple of times a week. And the stores reflected that. Our retail store, which is on the first level of the building, has been there since the early 1900s. So, it’s been great to be a part of the city’s evolution.”

Q: What makes you most excited now when you think about the future?

Usinger: “Well, what's really exciting now is that my daughter is in the business. She'll be the fifth generation here. Wow. It’s so fun to be able to work with your kid and have your kid tell you, ‘Nah, we should try it this way.’ She also gives me new insight and new ways of doing business day-to-day. But the products are going to stay the same.”