Zweigle’s carries its legacy through five generations

MEAT+POULTRY Podcast

Running a family business can be a blessing and a curse. Carrying on the legacy by leading the family’s business provides opportunities for family members to shine, but can also mean unexpected pressures, challenges and responsibilities for those in charge.

This week’s MEAT+POULTRY Podcast, features an interview with Julie Camardo, chief executive officer of Zweigle’s, in Rochester, NY. Zweigle’s is a family-owned hot dog and sausage company that started in 1880 at the corner of Joseph Avenue and Kelly Street in downtown Rochester. Handed down for five generations, the company is still a Rochester mainstay today.

The company’s portfolio of products, which started with Old World traditional German sausages, now includes a wide range of beef and pork hot dogs; sausage varieties including German and Polish and a line of chicken sausage; deli products, fully cooked chicken strips and meatballs; and a recently added line of breakfast sausage links and patties.

Camardo took over as president of Zweigle’s in 2009 when her mother Roberta passed away, and she became CEO of the company in 2015. As the fifth generation of her family to run the hot dog company, and the second woman in her family to hold an executive role, Camardo has always kept a close eye on her heritage and credits her success, and that of her family’s business, to the many family members – including many notable women – who came before her.

“I am so proud of this 140-year-old business,” Camardo said. “I’m proud to be able to continue the legacy, not only as a multi-generational family business, but also as a woman-owned business. And I truly believe all the women that came before me would be very proud of where we are today.”

Read more about Zweigle’s in the February issue of MEAT+POULTRY.

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