Vermont Smoke & Cure® got its start in 1962 in South Barre, Vermont, serving the small town made up of many immigrants drawn by the granite quarrying and carving industry. For the next 50 years, we operated in a farmhouse and then in the back of a gas station.
Chris Bailey, a farmer, chef, and former US team cyclist took over and renamed the business Vermont Smoke & Cure. Chris brought a modern approach to recipes, processing techniques.
Chris launched Real Sticks in 2010 — nitrate-free sticks made with meat raised without antibiotics. The line quickly gained a foothold with natural foods and specialty grocery shoppers across the country.
After moving from Barre to Hinesburg in 2012, we completed an expansion of our smokehouse increasing our capacity 4x. We also relaunched the brand with a unique, colorful palate, standing out in the category.
With the growing trend for portable, better for you snacks, we launched our mini meat sticks to meet the needs of families across the country.
In 2020 we were purchased by Johnsonville, LLC a privately held, family-owned company with over 75 years of sausage making experience. This marriage of complementary capabilities, culture and values will help us scale up by providing the resources to promote our tasty meat snacks nationwide. Vermont Smoke & Cure will continue to be a team of less than 60 employees handcrafting small batches of natural, premium meat sticks at our onsite smokehouse in Hinesburg, VT.
