Boulevard, Farmland Team Up On Bratwurst

By James Dornbrook

Farmland Foods and Boulevard Brewing Co. have teamed up to offer a new line of bratwurst hitting stores now.

The fresh, uncooked brats are made of USDA-inspected cuts of domestic pork, mixed with seasonings and two of Boulevard’s most popular beers: Pale Ale and Unfiltered Wheat. They’ll be offered at local grocery stores throughout Kansas City and the Midwest. Cooked varieties will be offered at select restaurants in the region and at the Boulevard and Farmland Foods concessions stands at Kauffman Stadium.

“We can make good pork products, and they make good beer, so we started thinking about what goes better with baseball season and summer than bratwurst and beer,” said Chad Nicholson, vice president of brand management for Kansas City-based Farmland Foods. “So one thing led to another, and you’re seeing the results.”

Many different varieties of beer flavored brats are on the market in the Kansas City area, but this is the first brat made and marketed with a local craft beer brand.

“It’s a new venture for both of us,” said Jeremy Ragonese, Boulevard’s director of marketing. “We were approached last fall by Farmland Foods with the idea to do this. It’s not a new idea to have a beer brat, but both of us thought the combination of brands, and certainly the connection to baseball here locally in Kansas City, made a lot of sense for us.”

Ragonese said they tested making brats with a wide variety of Boulevard beers. In the end, Pale Ale and Unfiltered Wheat made the best brats.

Boulevard sells beer to Farmland Foods to make the brats and gets its brand attached to the product and promotional materials. Farmland Foods makes, markets and distributes the brats, and keeps the profits.

“Probably the best part of this is that Farmland and Boulevard have basically the same selling area, stretching from South Dakota down to Oklahoma, east all the way through Missouri, and west through Kansas," Ragonese said. "It even goes beyond that in some cases.”

Ragonese said the brats received strong feedback from retailers. They can be bought at Hy-Vee, Price Chopper and Hen House grocery stores throughout the area.