For anyone who’s going to be in our neck of The Northwoods this weekend (Oct 4^th & 5^th, 2013), you’re invited to our open-to-the-public 80^th Anniversary Celebration.  We’ll have loads of food, music, prizes, and family-friendly fun… and if it rains, we have many large tents to keep you dry and shelter the weekend’s festivities.  Event details and schedule are here and if you have any questions after checking out the event schedule, please call us at (715) 253-4000 or email nueske@nueske.com – we can help you out!

Here’s a bit of our history for you:  Nueske’s was founded in 1933, in the heart of The Great Depression, by R.C. Nueske.  Times were hard for everyone and R.C. hoped to sell some of his family’s smoked meats to ease the burden. The Nueskes had been making traditional smoked meats for generations, all created with recipes that the family brought over from the Old World.

R.C. loaded up the back of the family’s automobile with his homemade smoked hams, sausages, and bacon, and traveled across Wisconsin’s Northwoods, stopping at the many resorts in the area to see if people wanted to sample his wares.  Although money was tight, people knew a good thing when they tasted it and word of R.C. Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats traveled far and fast.

Today, Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats keeps its sole location right here in Wittenberg, Wisconsin, and continues to be operated by the Nueske family, now in its third generation of business.  Robert Nueske, son of R.C., is the current president and his daughter, Tanya Nueske, is the company’s national sales manager and executive vice president.

These days, we’re proud to say that Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats are served at fine dining establishments, steakhouses, and cafes across the country.  Nueske’s specialties are known for their sweet, rich smokiness and consistently high quality – something which can be acquired only with time and patience taken to slowly smoke hand-selected cuts of meat over glowing embers of genuine Wisconsin Applewood.

Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon has proven a winner in taste tests time after time and has even received four gold medals from the prestigious Specialty Food Association (formerly NASFT).  This means that Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon was judged the best specialty meat in the entire nation four times over.  Nueske’s Meats have been mentioned in over 100 books and cookbooks and have been featured in full articles in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and Saveur Magazine, to name a few.

This is all because of you.  Thank you to all of our loyal customers for helping Nueske’s reach 80 years.  Here’s to 80 more!