Geiss Meat Service brings home awards from state competition

Andy Geiss and his team at Geiss Meat Service have plenty to celebrate after the 86th annual convention of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors (WAMP) held in Madison on April 11, 2025.
The local meat market earned 16 total awards and five honorable mentions out of 45 products entered in the Meat Product Show held in conjunction with the convention, the state’s largest meat product competition. With 815 individual products entered from meat processing plants and markets throughout Wisconsin, the competition was fierce.
“Learning this role for the past year, has been a new experience,” said Geiss, who currently serves as president of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of fun and educated people surrounding all of us, to help become better [meat processing] plants for the consumers and for the growth of our business.”
Geiss Meat Service took first place in four categories: traditional smoked and cured bratwurst for their smoked brats, cured and smoked poultry for their smoked chicken, large diameter luncheon meat for their bologna, and small diameter smoked and cooked sausage for their mettwurst.
They captured second place for their maple links in the fresh breakfast sausage category, dried beef in the dry and smoked beef category, braunschweiger in the braunschweiger category, and liver ring in the specialty ring sausage category.

Third place went to their smoked badger brat in the specialty smoked and cured bratwurst category, while fourth place finishes came for their chicken BBQ pizza brat, semi-boneless ham, restructured jerky, and ring bologna.
The shop also earned honorable mentions for smoked turkey, traditional ham, peppered bologna, chili cheese wieners, and venison pork bacon.
Overall, Geiss took second place for the Total Excellence Award among fellow plants—a significant achievement considering the competition included operations from across the state.
“To run smoother and efficiently. Joining these statewide plants, gathering as a family is the best thing I could be a part of,” Geiss said.
Over 40 judges, including food scientists, out-of-state meat processors, and other food industry professionals, evaluated the entries during the session. The competition showcases the significant role that sausage and processed meats play in Wisconsin’s meat industry.
Michelle Kussow, lobbyist for WAMP who daily monitors legislative and regulatory activities at the state level for issues that would affect the meat processing industry, was also at the convention. She and her team work directly with the WAMP Board of Directors to identify key issues affecting the industry and to proactively advocate for legislation that helps its members. Suppliers also attended to showcase new equipment and ideas to help meat processors with all parts of their operations, from the office to the processing floor, Geiss said.
To get a taste of the award-winning Geiss Meat Service products and flavors, stop in at their retail store located at W4490 Pope Rd. in Merrill.