Independent Processor magazine, a nationwide trade magazine dedicated to small and mid-sized meat-processing companies, has named Queen City Sausage of Cincinnati, Ohio, as its first-ever Independent Processor of the Year. The award was created to pay special recognition to a small or mid-sized company that exemplifies all of the best qualities of the meat-processing industry. As winner of this inaugural award, Queen City Sausage will be featured as the cover story in the August issue of Independent Processor.
Queen City Sausage was founded in 1965 by Elmer Hensler and his partners. Hensler had been involved in Cincinnati’s meat-processing industry since he was a teenager. Over the years, he bought out his partners and has kept Queen City Sausage growing and thriving, even as many of its competitors were sold off or went out of business. At 84 years old, Hensler still works in the office every day, and the company adheres to his demands for quality products: only the finest meats are used, with no fillers; only hickory chips are used in the smokehouses and not liquid smoke.