Success in small batches: Denver's Continental sausage gains a following with natural ingredients, old-country principles.

• Author: Beck, Cathie
• Position: TOP 50. Family-Owned Companies.

CONTINENTAL SAUSAGE'S STREET CRED IS MADE MOST evident by its staying power, devout fan base and steady sales growth-about 5 percent a year since 2003.

That growth trajectory took a decided upturn three years ago when John Roelke came aboard as VP of sales. With the apparent mantra "tasting is believing," he set about introducing Continental's European-style and gourmet sausages to as many worthy restaurants. outlets and individual tasters as he could. Continental's sales have surged an average of 22 percent annually since Roelke's arrival.

A whirling dervish of energy and enthusiasm, Roelke became the company's chief sales engine her first showing Continental's owners his mister. "I first did the warehouse distribution sales for Continental and so was up and running as a broker," Roelke says.

At that point, owner Eric Gutkneeht found Roelke, who's also a trained chef, hard to ignore. "I wanted white tablecloth restaurants like Elways, The Fort, The Brown Palace, The Broadmoor in the mix," Roelke says. "Those chefs appreciate what we're about. The quality moved the product. It's so good, the company could just roll out of bed and grow 7 or 8 percent.

"So I begged Eric for a job," he adds, "and it's worked out for both of us. Once I came on board, we made a team. Together we were able to spread the message. The business then starts coming to you. We're a good team."

Gutknecht's original team is his multiple-generational heritage of sausage makers. "My family has been making sausage since 1809," he says. "We began in Switzerland; I think I am the seventh or eighth generation of sausage maker." Continental has been producing sausages in Denver since 1969.

"I began working in the business when I was 8 years old and have worked all through my schooling, including high school and college," says Gutknecht, an Ironman triathlete who graduated from Denver's Manual High School and attended Colorado College where he earned an economics degree. "From 1998 until 2003 my wife jessica. and I ran the company and then purchased it from my parents in 2(103. Now our kids, Alex and Ashley, ages 10 and 8, help out here too."

Sales efforts aside, Roelke is quick to say that the company's popularity lies in its product. Continental Sausage's 8,000-square-loot manufacturing facility in North Denver employs 25 people who work to create customized, individual sausages, many of them proprietary and most devised by critical palates-those of chefs, restaurateurs, and a foodie-focused public that wants and needs tender victuals built more intimately and with greater care than most any sausage in the country. "We put out exceptional products with the understanding that it will be sustainable," says Gutknecht. Our goal is to put out product and have everyone say, 'Wow. That's awesome.'

"We don't skimp on ingredients, he adds, "and we feel we're the best there is. It's all natural, no hormones or antibiotics. We're almost organic."

Swiss Bratkvurst, Buffalo Jalapeno Cheddar and Smoked German Bratwurst are just a few of Continentals custom creations--as are Sweet Wild Boar, Gourmet Pheasant and Elk Jalapeno Cheddar.

"There's a big difference in us and the other sausage makers," Roelke says. "Our batch size is 180 pounds. Some local companies have batch sizes that arc in the thousands of pounds. Our batch size allows us to be flexible for our customers, and it also provides a much better level of quality. When a batch is that small, it's much easier to home in on the ingredients and really nail the consistency every time. It also allows us to do proprietary Mayors and specialty items for customers."

The batch size and the devotion to local, all-natural I ingredients, coupled with the company's mission to conduct business whit a keen social consciousness, keeps Continental Sausage separate from the pack, while endearing the company to a growing customer base.

"There are perhaps 10 to 12 sausage makers in Colorado," says Gutknecht. "but I don't think any of them really understand what 'natural' means...