PHOTO: SEEMORE MEATS & VEGGIES
Cara Nicoletti
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO,
SEEMORE MEATS & VEGGIES
Age: 35
FALL 2021 23
Cara Nicoletti has built a company providing
sausages for people who like meat but want less
of it in their diets.
Seemore Meats & Veggies, named after her
grandfather, Seymour Salett, makes a line of
blended, precooked sausages that contain up
to about 35 percent fresh vegetable ingredients
combined with responsibly raised pork and
chicken, along with seasonings and cheese.
"People are experimenting with lessening their
meat consumption, but they are not willing to
give it up entirely," says Nicoletti, co-founder
and CEO.
The colorfully packaged products, with
fun names such as Bubba's Chicken Soup
Sausage and La Dolce Beet-A Sausage, are sold
in Whole Foods, specialty grocers, and other
outlets across the country as well as directly to
consumers through the company's website.
Nicoletti co-founded the company with Ariel
Hauptman, who remains chief operating officer.
The two lead an all-female staff of eight, in an
industry that has long been dominated by men.
The target customers, says Nicoletti, are
consumers seeking fast, convenient meal
solutions for their families.
The company launched just before the
COVID-19 pandemic hit, but Nicoletti credits
strong relationships with her suppliers for
helping her navigate the pandemic, despite the
turmoil that has roiled the meat supply chain for
more than a year now.
"We were lucky that we chose our suppliers
carefully, and we really didn't see that much
supply disruption during COVID," says Nicoletti.
Going forward, she says she wants to grow
the company by expanding beyond sausages
into other formats, such as nuggets and patties,
using blended meats.
"Really, anywhere you can find meat, we
would like to present with a blended version of
that product," Nicoletti says. –M.H.
Arielle Feger is content associate for Specialty Food.
Mark Hamstra is a regular contributor to Specialty Food and SFA News Daily.
