Eric Gutknecht grew up elbows deep in sausage making. His parents immigrated to Colorado from Switzerland in the 1970s, bringing with them two generations of sausage-making experience.
Eric was three years old when his parents joined a Denver sausage business founded by another Swiss immigrant and purchased the company in the 1980s. Eric notes, “Packing sausage was cheaper than daycare,” so he spent his days learning the trade at his parents’ elbows.
After finishing college, Eric returned to the business, taking over management in 1998, and eventually purchasing the company in 2003.
A world-ranked triathlete, Eric deeply appreciates the importance of healthy food with clean ingredients. When assuming the helm of the sausage company, one of his first goals was to convert the production to “all natural,” with protein ingredients sourced from herds and flocks with no added growth hormones or antibiotics.
“I realized that we needed to move beyond the all-natural label and ensure that we sourced quality meat and poultry in a way that protected the health of the environment, as well as the health of our customers,” he said.
The company obtained organic certification in 2016, and soon began introducing a new line of products under the label, CharcutNuvo. In the spring of 2024, the company took another step forward in its commitment to the environment by obtaining Regenerative Organic Certification, which assures customers that the suppliers of meat and poultry meet standards in addition to organic requirements.
Sales of CharcutNuvo products have grown dramatically over the past 22 years. Eric said sales would be even higher except for one factor: the limited supply of certified organic meat, particularly beef.
“There simply isn’t the supply of beef coming from certified organic processors in the U.S. for us to meet consumer demand,” he said. “We want to work with U.S. ranchers and processors to include them in our supply chain. We want to support ranchers and farmers taking care of the land and are dedicated to humane animal husbandry, but there aren’t enough certified organic processors in our area.”
CharcutNuvo isn’t alone. According to the market research firm Circana, certified organic meat sales rose 14.1% in 2024, compared to an increase of 6.4% in overall meat sales. Organic beef sales rose 25% last year, compared to an overall increase of 9.2% in the category.
Yet, most organic beef in the marketplace is coming into the U.S. from Australia, Uruguay, and other overseas markets. The growing consumer desire for locally-produced meat and the impact of tariffs provide a new opportunity for smaller meat and poultry processors.
Eric joined Cate Batson Baril of the Rodale Institute and JJ Mack of the Oregon Tilth certification agency in a Flower Hill online roundtable on September 16th to discuss the opportunities and requirements to process and market certified organic meat and poultry. A recording of that roundtable is now available here.
Flower Hill provides no-cost technical assistance to smaller meat and poultry processors wishing to explore becoming certified organic.
It’s another step to help smaller processors provide a point of difference that can generate profitability for themselves and the ranchers they serve.
