Nolechek's Year in Review 2020
The world changed in 2020 and we learned a lot at Nolechek’s by constantly stepping up to meet the challenges, changes, and opportunities; all while continuing to uphold our core values of dedication and attention to detail. We were constantly reminded how valuable our awesome team is and how much they care about our products and all we strive to accomplish at Nolechek’s. We can have the best product and process, but the true backbone of Nolechek’s is the people. Individuals that make up our team; along with customers and fans; and last, but certainly not least, our families and friends who cheer us on. Surround yourself with good people and the rest will fall into place.
So, what did we accomplish? Read on and see for yourself…
TRUE NO NITRITE BACON
We started the year with a bang by introducing Nolechek’s Hickory Smoked Natural Uncured Bacon to our fans, in January. This TRUE NO NITRITE bacon uses a Mediterranean blend of fruit and spice extracts, along with yeast to replace the nitrite and phosphate. This alternative approach to preservation has allowed us to create an honest and transparent product that rivals the quality of Nolechek’s Hickory Smoked Honey Cured Bacon. We received rave reviews after sharing our first batch with customers, receiving feedback from fans who have been enjoying our traditional bacon their entire lives. We committed ourselves to creating a product that rivaled the flavor, aroma, and quality of our Traditional Hickory Smoked Honey Cured Bacon and are proud to say that we succeeded. As we like to say, ‘We didn’t invent bacon, we just perfected it!’
And don’t worry…we will NEVER do away with what has become our most beloved and well-known product. We promise! Wisconsin’s finest bacon will always be available!
WINTER FANCY FOOD SHOW
In February, Lindsey travelled to San Francisco, where the Specialty Food Association hosted the Winter Fancy Food Show. This show was a HUGE trade-only event where 1400+ exhibitors from around the globe gathered to showcase 80,000+ specialty foods and beverages. This is the largest marketplace on the west coast and more than 44,000 people were in attendance. To be apart of the excitement was amazing.
We debuted our new and delicious product, Hickory Smoked Natural Uncured Bacon at the show and shared Nolechek’s Special Reserve Italian Salami with Wine and our famous and unique Hickory Smoked Beef Brisket Strips. This event allowed Nolechek’s to share our specialty Wisconsin product with a wide audience that opened doors to new partnerships and opportunities. Plus, the food and the sights were out of this world!
WEBSITE IMPROVEMENTS
One of our goals for 2020 was to improve the online shopping experience for our customers that are unable to visit our retail store. We stepped up our game, by updating photos, improving the descriptions of our award-winning product, and developed helpful FAQ sections for wild game processing and shipping. We debuted the updated site just in time for the 2020 Holiday season and received great feedback from users. Customers loved the pictures, descriptions, and well-organized information. Have you checked it out yet? Visit www.nolechekmeats.com and see for yourself!
SHIPPING PROGRAM
Nolechek’s has been shipping product since the early 1990s, which has created a solid foundation for guaranteeing that our award-winning product arrives at your front door in the same condition as if you visited our retail. We are thankful for our amazing shipping department that went above and beyond this entire year (especially during the Holiday season) to ship more orders than ever. In fact, we shipped so many orders that UPS needed to send special trucks to accommodate the pallets that were heading out the door! The most popular items that we shipped included Nolechek’s summer sausage, bacon, beef brisket strips, and snack sticks; along with our Wisconsin specialty items that include local cheeses and jams.
THE BACON BEAT
Nolechek’s has a blog…have you checked it out?! We’ve been blogging now for almost two years and decided to make the blog an easily accessible feature on our updated website. And what’s more exciting than brainstorming fun blog titles and coming up with ‘The Bacon Beat’!? Check out the fun content, top recipe recommendations and learn more about the team at Nolechek’s by browsing our collection of expertly written blog posts!
NOLECHEK’S NEW LOGO & LABELS
While we updated our logo in 2019, we officially debuted the labels on our product in 2020. Changing Nolechek’s logo after so many decades wasn’t an easy decision, but we persevered and couldn’t be happier with the final result. And now that the label is visible on product, we are 100% certain that we made the right decision! The process of revision was a fun trip down memory lane to see how styles change, remain similar, and have a good laugh at the ‘what were we thinking’ moments.
