{"id":353156,"date":"2026-06-09T14:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/353156\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:25:10","slug":"sacramentos-sausage-scene-is-sizzling-heres-where-to-find-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/353156\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento’s Sausage Scene Is Sizzling. Here’s Where to Find It"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

This story is part of our June 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n


\n
\n <\/p>\n

\n Wursts, wieners, frankfurters or hot dogs; whatever you call
\n them, there\u2019s money to be made in sausage in Sacramento. While
\n large brands like Ball Park, Nathan\u2019s Famous and Oscar Meyer
\n dominate grocery stores across the Capital Region, a few local
\n entrepreneurs have found their niche\u00a0 in the industry.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great protein, something quick and easy,\u201d says Malcolm
\n Means, owner of Banger & Bite Sausages. \u201cIt\u2019s a handheld, which I
\n love. When I was just a single guy, and I didn\u2019t really know how
\n to cook, you could always boil a hot dog, right?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

A new sausage business takes shape<\/p>\n

\n Means is a special-education teacher from Citrus Heights who
\n launched his own sausage brand last year. He\u2019s also the brother
\n of Harold Pressley, a retired Sacramento Kings basketball player.
\n The idea for this business was originally pitched by his mother\u2019s
\n cousin, Papps, who worked as a butcher at a Navy commissary.
\n After he died, Means decided to make the dream a reality.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Means designs each Banger & Bite sausage for a specific purpose,
\n such as grilling or sauteing for pasta dishes. (Photo by Rachel
\n Valley)\n<\/p>\n

He then enrolled in the Roseville Rising
\n program, a 10-week training program for culinary entrepreneurs.
\n Today, Means contracts a butcher in Rancho Cordova to make
\n sausages with his recipes, which he sells online and at local
\n farmers\u2019 markets. He also supplies local eateries, Creole Soul
\n Restaurant & Bar in Sacramento, Rockstarr Kitchens in Carmichael
\n and Ikeda\u2019s in Auburn.\n<\/p>\n

\n A trend Means has noticed is \u201cmeal-related\u201d sausages, meaning
\n they\u2019re designed for a specific dish, not simply put on a bun and
\n drowned in ketchup and mustard. His time-intensive boudin
\n sausage, a staple of Louisiana Cajun cuisine, and his upcoming
\n chicken marsala sausage are examples. Means has other recipes in
\n the works, like a sausage designed for beef stroganoff and a
\n peach chipotle sausage.\n<\/p>\n

\n Means sources his ingredients locally. \u201cSacramento is a food
\n town,\u201d he says, but he stopped short of calling it a sausage
\n town. Few local specialty sausage makers call the Capital Region
\n home, and even fewer who are Black like him. \u201cThat puts me in a
\n rare air. I love doing it, not just because of that. It\u2019s just a
\n heavier lift for some, but I found my lane,\u201d Means says.\n<\/p>\n

From family recipe to store shelves<\/p>\n

\n Mr. Pork Grill Factory USA is another sausage brand recently
\n started in the Capital Region. It\u2019s the creation of Lina Luce and
\n her husband, Jeferson Heusner. Both are from Brazil and now live
\n in Rancho Cordova. Luce has a background in fashion design, and
\n Heusner is a professional chef. In late 2021, the couple opened
\n Quick Dish, a restaurant in Folsom specializing in
\n Brazilian-style barbecue. But the couple\u2019s long-term plan was
\n always to sell their sausage, based on Heusner\u2019s father\u2019s recipe,
\n at grocery stores.\n<\/p>\n

\n They closed the restaurant in 2023, after their son was
\n born, and focused on their sausage line. Mr. Pork was in three
\n markets by the end of 2024, and is now carried by over 80
\n retailers, including 10 in the Capital Region. Luce said their
\n sausages, like their smoked calabresa, are sought out by local
\n Brazilians who miss the flavors of home. Other customers are
\n drawn to their blend of spices, lack of artificial preservatives,
\n and distinctive ingredients like white wine, parsley and garlic.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey accept us because we are different,\u201d Luce says. \u201cCustomers
\n today, we see a lot more willingness to try new stuff and new
\n flavors. So that\u2019s very good for us. It makes it a little bit
\n easier to sell and be in the market.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n When it came to getting their product into stores, the couple
\n didn\u2019t partner with a distributor. Instead, they took their
\n product directly to smaller retailers to pitch it themselves.
\n This strategy was cheaper, but required effort, charm and
\n confidence in their brand. The couple shared their story and
\n offered to do in-store demonstrations. But at the end of the day,
\n Lina says, \u201cOur product spoke for itself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Her husband used to make all their sausages himself, but since
\n last August, they have hired a contract packager in Sacramento,
\n allowing them to get USDA certified and sell in more stores.
\n Their ultimate dream is to land a large distributor, specifically
\n Sprouts Farmers Market.\n<\/p>\n

A longtime shop keeps it simple<\/p>\n

\n While some entrepreneurs are new to the sausage game, others have
\n operated in the Capital Region for decades. One example is a shop
\n that has no website, no Facebook page, and after a recent
\n rainstorm, no sign. But if you\u2019re part of this community, it\u2019s a
\n place everyone knows through word of mouth.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Samthong Market in Sacramento offers a variety of Southeast Asian
\n sausages, including some made in-house. (Photo by Rachel Valley)\n<\/p>\n

Samthong Meat Market in Sacramento
\n carries some vegetables and other food staples. Above all else,
\n this shop specializes in Hmong sausages, made from pork mixed
\n with lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chili peppers and other
\n ingredients. They are traditionally served with sticky rice.\n<\/p>\n

\n Co-owner Amber Vang handles the business side while her husband,
\n Tawn Vang, is the chief sausage maker. The shop was started by
\n her parents, who ran it for about seven years before passing it
\n on to their daughter in 2005. The business is named after her
\n father\u2019s hometown in Laos, where many Hmong people lived before
\n resettling in the United States.\n<\/p>\n

\n But why is sausage so popular among the Hmong people? Vang
\n theorizes it was an easy-to-make food that kept meat fresh for a
\n long time in an era without refrigerators. Now it\u2019s part of the
\n culture. \u201cSausage is a Hmong staple,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery party,
\n every New Year, you have to have your sausage.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Every Monday, her husband makes a fresh batch in the back while
\n under the supervision of a USDA inspector. It takes two days to
\n complete. Curious customers are welcome to watch him practice his
\n craft from a distance, but space is limited. He can even make
\n custom orders tailored to a customer\u2019s preferences.\n<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Eat
\n Your Way Through Sacramento\u2019s Hmong Food Scene<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Recently, Vang added chicken sausages as some customers have cut
\n back on pork and sodium. But the recipe passed down from her
\n mother\u2019s aunt remains unchanged.\n<\/p>\n

Decades of doing it their way<\/p>\n

\n \u201cOld is good. If it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it,\u201d says Robert
\n \u201cPete\u201d Pettersen, of Lodi. He has owned and operated Lockeford
\n Meat & Sausage for 56 years in the rural San Joaquin County
\n community of the same name. Pettersen\u2019s business card features
\n his hand-drawn cartoon portrait and the quote: \u201cWhat we make, you
\n can\u2019t buy anywhere else.\u201d The card\u2019s back lists 26 varieties of
\n sausage he sells, with the \u201csmoked Dakota bratwurst\u201d marked as
\n his flagship product. He also sells jerky.\n<\/p>\n

\n Pettersen opened his shop along Highway 88 and
\n originally performed \u201ccustom work,\u201d meaning he processed meat
\n from local farmers. When business petered out, he switched his
\n focus to sausage. It was a product he knew how to make, and
\n decided to go all in on tubed meat, \u201crather than go broke, like
\n the rest of them.\u201d Years later, a master sausage maker from
\n Switzerland helped him improve his craft.\n<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0How
\n Meat Markets Meet Needs<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Today, the shop is so famous that Pettersen said someone is
\n trying to impersonate him to scam others. The shop has no
\n website, but lockefordsausage.com is listed on its Yelp page.
\n \u201cIt\u2019s bogus,\u201d Pettersen says, and claimed someone in India is
\n using it to sell fake gift certificates. He\u2019s currently trying to
\n get it taken down.\n<\/p>\n

\n But the confusion hasn\u2019t deterred customers. It\u2019s not uncommon
\n for the shop to have lines out the door. As Pettersen was
\n interviewed from behind the store\u2019s counter, a customer from
\n Monterey interjected, saying he always stops by whenever he\u2019s in
\n the area to fish. Another gray-haired man claimed to have been
\n eating Pettersen\u2019s European-style sausage since childhood.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat makes a good sausage? The guy that\u2019s making it,\u201d Pettersen
\n says. These days, it\u2019s his son, York Pettersen, who is the shop\u2019s
\n chief sausage maker.\n<\/p>\n

\n Other butchers have come and gone in Pettersen\u2019s time. In
\n Sacramento, Morant\u2019s Old Fashioned Sausage Kitchen closed in 2020
\n after a fire, and V. Miller Meats closed last year. So how has
\n Pettersen\u2019s shop stood the test of time?\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cBy the grace of God. He looks out for the dummies,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u2013\n<\/p>\n

\n Stay up to date on business in the Capital Region:
\n Subscribe to the Comstock\u2019s newsletter
\n today.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of our June 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here. …\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-353156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}