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Conecuh Sausage Is Not Shutting Down Production, But They Are Moving
March 28, 2025
You may have seen the social media posts, and quite frankly it’s shocking to fans in North Escambia and beyond.
“Conecuh Sausage closing Conecuh processing plant” is the headline in the local weekly Evergreen Courant newspaper on Thursday. And a photo is blowing up on social media.
But the headline and small clipping shared on social media does not tell the whole story until you follow the “jump” — that’s the old style newspaper newspaper lingo “See Page 3″ thing.
The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say (since we are talking old school), is that Conecuh Sausage is moving their production a few miles down Highway 84 to Andalusia — which means Conecuh Sausage, will technically be made in Covington County not Conecuh County. And no, the name is not changing.
Let’s talk a little history first…Conecuh Sausage was first started n 1947 in downtown Evergreen, later moving to their current location at I-65 in 1986 before an expansion there in 2012. They later opened a gift shop at the I-65 location — with Conecuh Sausage ready on the roller to make your own Conecuh dogs.
So what is Conecuh Sausage?
If you have to ask, bless your heart, you must be kinda new in these parts. It is pronounced “cah-NECK-ah”, and it’s a southern as sweet tea, grits, Sundays at grandma’s, and humidity.
Conecuh Sausage is way of life in the South. Ask anybody ,and y’all will quickly find out the juicy hickory smoked goodness of Conecuh Sausage is a favorite — roasted, grilled, pan-fried and, if desperate, even microwaved.
It is a way of life.
It used to be a part of care packages sento family and real friends across the nation, but now it’s available most everywhere across the USA at the big box stores.
The are varieties including the red label, the blue label “Original”, cracked black pepper, spicy & hot, Cajun and even a MSG-free all natural. The Conecuh hickory smoked items include, turkey, hams, bacon and hot dogs. The hot dogs are good, but a pro-tip….throw some Conecuh on a the grill and serve it on a bun (some say a slightly less than fresh bun from the Piggly Wiggly is best) with grilled peppers and onions, and you’ll never go back.
Can we still buy it?
Yep. The gift shop in Evergreen will stay open, but the production plant will be moving to a brand new $58 million 120,000 square foot processing facility in Andalusia. The new plant will be about twice as large as the Evergreen facility. Once they are up an running, they’ll start making plants for a second retail location in Andalusia.
You’ll still be able to buy Conecuh at your favorite store before, during and after the move. And all of the employees in Evergreen have been offered jobs at the new plant, which ie expected to employ about 50 people.
Why are they shutting down the Evergreen plant?
The newer, larger facility in Andalusia will simply be better and safer. The Evergreen facility will close in early June, with production shifting to Covington County.
“The decision for facility closure was not made lightly,” the family-owned company said in a letter his week to the Evergreen mayor. “The new facility was originally expected to be an expansion as a secondary facility but in light of changes in the food industry and the age of the current facility, the management team at Conecuh Sausage determined a full facility shut down and relocation was the best decision. It is a company’s responsibility to maintain their facility in good working order and to recognize when an older facility is reaching the limits of its capability to be responsibly maintained.
“The new facility has been completely developed around the newest designs and technologies for current food safety standards. While the current facility has been well maintained and served well over the years, all good things change and improve over time.”After much thought, research, and discussion, it was determined that attempting to modify the current, older facility to meet new food safety designs is simply not an option.”
Comments
10 Responses to “Conecuh Sausage Is Not Shutting Down Production, But They Are Moving”
hmm, I suspect that the business leaders of Andalusia – which is in a real growth mode made a lucrative offer to attract the iconic sausage company to abandon Evergreen which is in rapid decline – cities like Evergreen, Monroeville, Flomaton, Century etc are in real transition and Not in a positive direction – they need some real innovation and imagination to remain relevant
We moved here and called it Cone-a-can until we were laughed at (nicely) and told how to pronounce it. Now, every house guests gets at least one breakfast with your sausage as the main star.
I am in mobile and Conecuh Sausages are my family favorite, so glad I will still be able to find them in the store.
OMG! I felt my heart jump and thought about calling 911. Thank you for the clarification in your story. Our Saturday morning of cat head biscuits and Conecuh Sausage will continue. All is well in Molino!
Wishing you well during this transition, thank you for informing the public of your next move. I love the sausage, great breakfast treat, morning sandwich or if you frying some “Make me a piece for later”. Hope to visit the new location, or at lease I can make a stop on 65North. Best wishes.
A crawfish boil ain’t a crawfish boil without conecuh!
Our family always has Conecuh sausage available in the fridge. Can’t say I have ever had a flavor I didn’t like. There is no questioning the quality of the products they produce but what put a smile on my face was how clean and detailed their 18 wheelers are. That told me they are probably not cutting corners with food safety if they take the time and effort to keep their equipment in top notch condition for everyone to see. Congrats on the new expansion and happy to hear we can still stop and grab a sausage dog in Evergreen…..although I miss the days when they were a $1.
Southwest and West Alabama are dying (save Mobile and Baldwin Counties).
This relocation to the Wiregrass is just another nail in the coffin for this rapidly depopulating region. I’m not certain any one thing can turn this trend around.
But still love Conecuh Sausage.
The store they just built is nice. I swing in for breakfast or lunch.. Great stop
At least the I65 gift shop will remain open. It is so convenient to I65 travelers. I always stop when I travel I65