The Achievement Award is the American Association of Meat Processors’ highest honor, bestowed on a member for continuing service to the meat industry. This year, AAMP presented the coveted Achievement Award to Rick and Anne Reams of RJ’s Meats, in Hudson, Wisc.

To further explore this family-owned meat market’s success, The National Provisioner spoke with Rick Reams, owner of RJ’s Meats.

The 2025 AAMP Achievement Award is one of many honors that has been presented to RJ’s Meats. Earlier in the year, RJ’s Meats earned 11 gold medals at the DFV-AAMP Quality Competition for Sausage and Ham. RJ’s won the Clarence Knebel Best of Show Memorial Award at the 2024 American Cured Meat Championships for its commercial boneless ham.

RJ's Meats has won hundreds of other awards for its fresh and cured meat products. Most notably, they have received 94 Gold, 8 Silver and 7 Bronze Medals from the German Butchers Guild, and they were the champion of the 2022 DFV/AAMP Quality Competition, winning a total of 46 Gold Medals. Reams was inducted into AAMP’s Cured Meats Hall of Fame in 2011.

These competitions, particularly the American Cured Meat Championships, inspire RJ's Meats to constantly refine their products. "As a result, the quality of the products our consumers purchase continues to increase year after year," Reams said. "I look forward to continuing to please our customers."

Passion for meat cutting inspires shop opening

When he was 16, Rick Reams began working at a butcher shop called Jim’s Meats. Reams then went on to serve four years in the Air Force. During his service, Reams realized how much he missed meat cutting, deciding then that one day, he would own his very own butcher shop in Wisconsin.

After his service, Reams returned to Hudson, Wisc., in 1986, back to the butcher shop he worked in before. In 1987, Reams received a call from the owner, informing Reams that he was planning to close the market. “Jim Schmitz told me he was tired of teaching others how to cut meat and then as soon as they were proficient at it they would leave and go to a union store in the twin cities,” Reams said.

With the exit of the shop’s owner, Reams had an opportunity to take over and pursue his dream of having his very own butcher shop, right at the same location he worked at as a teenager. “Aug. 30, 1987, was the last day for Jim’s Meats. The very next day, Aug. 31, 1987, when the store opened, it was under the name RJ’s Fresh Meats,” Reams said.

Quality has always been a top priority for RJ's Meats, propelled by the commitment to quality under the shop's previous owner, Jim Schmitz. "His advice was never put anything out for display in the fresh meat counter that you would not eat yourself," Reams said. "Simple advice and a recipe for success."

That dedication to quality has not changed. Reams noted that quality meats are still the business’s goal and passion.

The business continued to reach new heights of success, prompting Reams’ wife Anne to leave her job at a bank and join the family business. The pair’s sons Aaron, Joe and Anthony have all worked at RJ’s Meats as well.

Evolution of the business

Reams' shop originally specialized in fresh meats with a few frozen meat offerings and smoked meats that they purchased through wholesalers. That changed in 1992, when people were cutting back on red meat consumption due to cholesterol concerns. "We needed an additional draw to bring them in," Reams said. "I followed the advice of my wife’s sister — she told me to think about making smoked meats myself with my own recipes."

RJ’s specializes in fresh meat as well as smoked and cured meats and sausages, making over 100 different options, all unique and only available in the RJ’s store.

Just one year after breaking into smoked meats, Reams heard about the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors, or WAMP, for the first time. "I attended my first convention that spring and was hooked," Reams said "Through friendships with butchers/meat cutters/sausage makers across the state I learned more than I had ever dreamed about."

Reams joined the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors in 1993. He and his wife have both served on the product show committee at WAMP. Reams served multiple terms on the board of directors, as well as a term as president. He also served on the AAMP board and, due to COVID in 2020, served an unprecedented two terms as association president.

Reams' service with both WAMP and AAMP has helped him understand the complexities and nuances of the meat industry. "It has helped me to understand that while we are all in the meat business/industry there are differences in our business based on slaughter or non-slaughter, if we are located in a city or country and what all that means to each individual business and how it affects our main goal of feeding our customers," he said.

Collaboration is a key component of Reams’ mindset; he is devoted to helping and educating customers and industry members alike. “I was fortunate enough to have others take me under their wing and teach me, now I view it as my responsibility to do the same for others,” he said.

Reams’ commitment to collaborative success is evident through his years of service to WAMP and AAMP. “We in the meat industry are all on this journey together and each individual victory, success for each member of AAMP is a win for all of AAMP and our fellow small processors,” he said.

The Reams family has achieved significant success over their decades in the meat industry, reinforcing how their commitment to quality, collaboration and continuous improvement can lead to business growth while bolstering small processors nationwide.