051234 Meat Processor Adds Vegetarian Line

Kessler can imagine what his grandfather would say if he knew that the meat-processing company bearing his name now makes vegetarian products.

"My grandfather was very much anti-poultry," Kessler said of George A. Kessler, who in 1916 founded the company now known as Kessler's Inc. "My grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew we made chicken sausage. I don't know what he would do if he knew we were making vegetarian products."

Mulling it over a few seconds, Kessler added, "I'm sure he would say, I guess we have to go with the times.'"

That also means spending money on new equipment.

Kessler's recently added a German-made pump that injects meat into casings.

The acquisition of the $91,200 machine was financed by a loan from Members 1st Federal Credit Union through Business First, a program started this year by the Cumberland County Economic Development office.

Kessler said the pump will increase productivity by 15 percent and improve consistency through computer control.

"If the customer wants a 4-ounce link, it will produce a 4-ounce link every time," said Kessler, 56, president and CEO of the company since 1993.

Kessler's guarantees that at least one new job will be created because of the pump. But Omar Shute, who heads the county loan program, thinks chances are good more jobs will be created, citing Kessler's prediction for increased productivity.

The company employs about 55 workers.

The pump also supports Kessler's move into the vegetarian market.

The same equipment Kessler's uses to make about 200 kinds of meat products also is used to make the vegetarian items.

"Whether the raw material is beef, pork or soy, it's pretty much the same process," Kessler said.

Kessler's makes several thousand pounds of vegetarian products weekly, including meatless franks, bologna, salami, poultry roll and ham. Such alternative products are known as "meat analogs."

"The texture is totally different, but the appearance and flavor are very similar to traditional meat or poultry products," Kessler said.

Kessler's started making vegetarian products to order more than a year ago, responding to demand from a food-service company that Kessler would not identify.

The food-service company supplies meals to schools, prisons, health care facilities and similar institutions. It also has exported the vegetarian products to the Middle East and Latin America, Kessler said.

"More and more prisons are moving in this direction, as opposed to traditional beef or pork," due to inmates who are vegetarians or who follow religious dietary restrictions, Kessler said.

Kessler's doesn't produce vegetarian products for retailers like Giant, Weis and Karns, but Kessler sees that coming.

Meat processors making vegetarian products is "not a new phenomenon in the industry," said Steve Krut, executive director of the Elizabethtown-based American Association of Meat Processors.

"It's the same equipment and process," he said. Meat processors adapting to market forces by offering vegetarian products is much like convenience stores selling gasoline and beverage distributors snacks, Krut said.

One difference lies in how meat and meatless products are regulated by the government. At Kessler's and other meat processors, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official is always on site to monitor the making of meat products, Krut said. Vegetarian products are monitored by the Food and Drug Administration, whose inspectors don't maintain as close a presence as USDA, Krut said.

"We have companies that haven't seen someone from the FDA in five years," Krut said.

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