Selma / Alabama / United States
Tradition at R.L. Zeigler Packing Company is not just a matter of making fine seasoned meats. Zeigler bought his first grocery store in the early 1920s in Bessemer, Ala., and people came from all over to buy homemade fresh pork sausage. In 1927, Zeigler incorporated and opened his first packing plant in Bessemer, enabling him to increase the production of sausage. Zeigler introduced the first vacuum packed lunchmeat in Alabama, an innovation that paved the road to meat packing principles used today. The company is privately held by James Hinton and employs more than 300 people. It remains the largest privately owned meat packer in the Southeast, producing the top selling wiener in the state of Alabama, along with a vast array of meat products, including sausages, hams, bacon, lunch meats and meal solutions.
