Kewaskum Foods, a manufacturer of sausages and meats, announced this week that the business is winding down operations after nearly 83 years in business.
Most manufacturing operations have already been discontinued. The company’s retail shop, located at 118 Forest Ave., will continue selling any remaining inventory.
A round of layoffs has already been conducted, leaving just four employees working as Kewaskum Foods winds down, according to a representative with the business, who declined to share how many employees worked at the company prior to the recent layoffs.
Kewaskum Foods is owned by
Brian Schumacher, who purchased the business in 2018. He explained that when he bought the business, an “astonishing number” of costly surprises were uncovered.
“In the end, we were on the cusp of completely turning this business around, being perhaps only a couple weeks away from gaining USDA grant of inspection and garnering distribution arrangements to begin to scale our business and share Kewaskum with the masses,” according to the announcement. “The problem was everything up to this point took so long and was so incredibly costly.”
The loss of the company’s largest customer last year also put a big strain on Kewaskum Foods, the announcement explained. This cost the business “hundreds of thousands” in sales.
“In the end, we never gave up, but we no longer possess sufficient resources to overcome the historical challenges and complete what we set out to do,” reads the announcement.
Schumacher was not immediately available for further comment Wednesday.
