Summerfest, Klement’s Sausage Co. announce 10-year sponsorship deal
Klement’s may have lost the Milwaukee Brewers’ Famous Racing Sausages in January but it just gained the Summerfest smile.
On Tuesday, Klement’s Sausage Co. and Summerfest announced agreement on a 10-year sponsorship deal. The agreement includes a new stage area for local musicians and the designation of Klement’s as the “Official Sausage of Summerfest.”
Financial terms were not announced. For Kement’s, it was a big comeback in the brat battles. The Milwaukeebased firm employs more than 350 people at its two plants.
In January, the Brewers severed their sponsorship link with the company after 25 years and signed up with Sheboygan-based Johnsonville Sausage.
Don Smiley, Summerfest president and chief executive officer, called Klement’s “a new major, hometown partner to our family.”
“It’s a great day for Klement’s, it’s a great day for Milwaukee, that these two great iconic brands of Milwaukee are coming together,” said Tom Danneker, Klement’s president and chief executive officer.
“We’re really proud that the brats and hot dogs that will be served at Summerfest will be made” in Milwaukee, Danneker said. “What says Milwaukee better than beer, brats and music.”
Smiley and Danneker met Jan. 24 for the first time, just one day after the company said it had lost out on the Brewers sponsorship.
The two said the meeting was previously scheduled. The timing turned out to be perfect.
“No question, there was a day that was a bad day,” Danneker said of losing the Brewers’ sponsorship. “But I say this with great sincerity, it was a day. Because the next day I sat down with my team and we talked about, ‘This is an opportunity. Let’s get out of what we’ve done in the past and make more of what we can do moving forward.’ “
Danneker said, “Klement’s and Summerfest have always been close. The opportunity at the end of January was to elevate the relationship. That’s the change that occurred.”
There will be a new stage area, the Klement’s Sausage and Beer Garden, which will feature local acoustic musicians playing from 2 to 8 p.m. daily during the festival.
“This is a very intimate area that is meant to be comfortable like you would be sitting in your own backyard,” Smiley said.
Summerfest runs June 27 to July 1, and July 3 to 8. Ten of the 11 amphitheater shows have been booked.