KLEMENT’S REPLACES USINGER’S AS BUCKS BRAT
After losing Brewers deal, new opportunities arise
Klement’s will cook up a special sausage available only at the new Milwaukee Bucks arena as part of a new partnership announced Tuesday.
The five-year deal between Milwaukee-based Klement’s Sausage Co. and the Bucks restores the company as the “official hot dog, brat and sausage” supplier to the Bucks and their new arena.
Klement’s replaces Usinger’s Famous Sausage, which signed a three-year deal with the team in late 2014. Before that, Klement’s had the Bucks deal for at least a decade.
“This is a bit of a homecoming for us,” said Klement’s President and CEO Tom Danneker. “What the Bucks are doing for the community — we want to be a part of that.”
It’s another twist in the “brat battles” that have seen sausage-makers Klement’s, Sheboygan-based Johnsonville and Usinger’s jockey for exclusive deals at local high-profile sports and entertainment venues. Usinger’s is based on Old World Third Street, a block east of the new arena.
For Klement’s, it’s another “win” after the Milwaukee Brewers ended their sponsorship with the company after 25 years and signed up with Johnsonville. Last month, Klement’s and Summerfest inked a 10-year sponsorship.
Danneker said the company recovered quickly from the shock of losing the Brewers deal and saw new opportunities.
“MLB (Major League Baseball) was a huge investment,” he said.
Losing the Brewers deal “gave us the resources to do a bunch of other things and allocate those resources a lot better.” He added: “In the end, it’s been good. It allowed us to look at a lot of other things.”
The company also will sponsor “Milwaukee Mondays” during games at the arena, a promotion that highlights local musicians and artists, said Bucks President Peter Feigin.
Danneker said the partnership with the Bucks was more about marketing rather than sausage sales at the new arena. The Klement’s name will be on three main and two portable concession stands.
“It really is about us investing in the community and the brand,” Danneker said.
The deal includes an opportunity for the sausage-maker to get creative.
Klement’s will work with Ken Hardiman, the Bucks senior executive chef, to create a new sausage that will be available only at the new arena.
“We’re going to do an exclusive item just for the new arena,” Danneker said. “You can have a lot of fun with sausage.”
Klement’s employs about 350 people at two south side manufacturing plants.
“Sausage is really one of our core foods,” Feigin said. “About 75 to 80 percent of the people in the arena are going to have a brat, hot dog, sausage, hamburger or pizza.”
He said: “The brat is really one of the elements that’s essential to get right.”
The Klement’s deal is one of many to come involving local restaurants and vendors and the Bucks for the new $524 million arena. Built with $250 million in public money, the arena is expected to open in late summer.