_{Walking into Opa’s Smoked Meats in Fredericksburg is a little like stepping foot in your grandparents’ kitchen – especially if you call your grandparents Oma and Opa!}

_{Despite selling nearly six million pounds of slow-smoked German sausage every year, Opa’s remains a humble smokehouse run by the same Fredericksburg family that founded it more than 70 years ago.}

_{Opa’s story begins in 1947 when Arno Schwethelm, a merchant and rancher from the nearby town of Comfort, Texas gave a small meat market to his daughter and son-in-law as a wedding present. The young couple renovated the building and established their meat market. They made a living running their small processing plant and slaughterhouse and by renting out lockers to locals for cold meat storage.}

_{Fast forward to 1968 and Arno’s grandson and his wife write a new chapter for the company shedding the processing plant and locker rental and renaming the business in honour of his grandfather – Opa’s Smoked Meats.}

_{Paying tribute to their German heritage, they develop original recipes for smoked sausage using a blend of coarsely minced cuts of meat and German-style spices. They start small and grow the business through local supermarkets across South and West Texas.}

_{Today, Arno’s great grandchildren run the business with an expanded menu using the same recipes that their parents developed and with an extensive online business serving across the US.}

_{Opa’s sausages work well with German-style potato salad and whole-grain mustard. We will be stocking up before we head for home!}