Articles
9 February 2012

From Brat to Wurst

by Sarah Ryther Francom

09 February 2012—

The Colosimo family history is similar to that of many immigrants: Three generations ago, they arrived on U.S. shores and went to work. In their case, they found jobs in the Utah mines. The family’s next generation moved into business by opening a grocery store in Magna.

“They were stubborn, hard-headed, persistent, consistent, and without thoughts of grandeur,” says Paul Colosimo, whose great-grandfathers both worked for Kennecott Copper. “They were humble sort of people and kept things small.”
As was typical in those times, the family lived above the grocery, and Paul’s father was born there. By the 1950s, Ralph Colosimo’s 3,000-square-foot market was the largest grocer in Magna. But in 1966, Safeway opened a 10,000-square-foot store nearby. By the mid-‘70s, facing additional competition from Food 4 Less, Ralph’s sons focused on quality meat to draw customers.
Ralph’s son Gale “started to develop a reputation for being a sausage maker,” says Paul Colosimo, who is Gale’s son. “Every ethnic group that came to town wanted their sausage from Chicago or Pittsburgh or New York. They came to him and said, ‘You know, your sausage is good, but can you make this?’ And my dad said, ‘Sure. What’s in it?’”
In this way, Colosimo’s began to offer Bratwurst, Chorizo, Linguisa and other specialty sausages. Along the way, Gale developed a patented sausage making device that is still in use today.
Paul and his brothers went on to other careers but often returned home to help with the sausage-making. The Magna store sold about 50,000 pounds a year, but “we thought, ‘Why can’t we take this to another level? We’re a Utah business. We’ve been here since 1923,’” Paul says. “There was tremendous amount of potential because we had a whole cupboard full of product.”
            The first step toward that next level came in April 2004, when Colosimo’s opened a retail shop and restaurant on 700 East in Sandy. They stock 20 types of sausage, from the popular Bratwurst to the lesser-known German-style Lanjager. The sausage is made from premium cuts of pork.
“I don’t ever want to be a whole-hog sausage,” Paul says. “Being a whole hog sausage impacts my quality. I don’t use the whole hog. I’m not using the snout and all the off-cuts typical of a whole-hog sausage.  I only use the best cuts of the pig. That’s what allows me to create a higher-end sausage. I’m trying to compete against the whole-hog sausages because that’s how you do volume, but I am totally intent on keeping the quality by continuing to use quality cuts.”
            The shop in Sandy  is primarily an advertising tool, Paul says. “People aren’t going to make a special trip to buy sausage. A concept built around sausage – especially in Utah – is not a winning concept. But I needed a launching pad.”
            For Colosimo’s, the shop indicated the concept was off and running. “In the first nine months, we sold about 60,000 pounds (of sausage),” Paul says. “The flagship is Italian, but Bratwurst is actually the bigger seller now for us because it is more common in Utah.”
            In 2006, Colosimo’s developed a relationship with Utah’s Own. Paul wanted to take advantage of this program’s ability to highlight Utah products, focusing on the value and benefits of buying local. As Paul says, “Why buy a sausage from Wisconsin when you can buy a better quality sausage made right here in our own state and benefit our own economy?” 
            The brothers have marketed their product to chain supermarkets such as Associated Food Stores, Smith’s and Albertsons, because “that’s where the volume is,” Paul says. But they faced several difficulties: sausage has a limited shelf life, and groceries usually carry only a few brands and lean heavily toward those with name recognition such as Johnsonville or an in-house name.
            Nevertheless, Colosimo’s has gained shelf space in several large Utah stores. By 2006, the company was producing 250,000 pounds of sausage. In 2007, they doubled that, enough to justify a new, $5 million facility in West Jordan, and they plan to increase production in 2008.
 “With the right set of circumstances behind us, we could be an economic engine – one of many – for the state of Utah,” Paul says.
 


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