Milwaukee-based Klement Sausage Co. has been named the official sausage of the Milwaukee County Parks. The deal is the third major community partnership the company has announced since the Milwaukee Brewers ended its relationship with the firm earlier this year.
“Klement’s is continuing to strengthen our links to Milwaukee and with the latest partnership it shows that we are really cooking,” Tom Danneker, Klement chief executive officer, in a statement.
The partnership calls for Klement to be the sausage provider and presenting music sponsor for the county’s traveling beer gardens. Klement will also provide sausage for the South Shore Terrace Kitchen & Beer Garden, Whitnall Park Beer Garden in 2019 and 2020, China Lights festival and at every golf course and aquatic center offering concessions.
“Milwaukee County Parks is grateful for our hometown sausage company supporting our parks,” said Guy Smith, Milwaukee County interim parks director. “Klement’s support helps us continue to provide the world-class parks our community loves.”
The first two traveling beer gardens start at Greenfield and Juneau parks on Wednesday. To mark the start of the new partnership, Klement is giving away 200 brats to customers at those locations.
Klement had been the longtime sponsor the Milwaukee Brewers Famous Racing Sausages until this year. The Brewers announced in January they would be partnering instead with Sheboygan Falls-based Johnsonville Sausage, a Klement competitor with a larger national presence.
At the time, Klement issued a statement that said Major League Baseball had become more about making money and maximizing profits and ending the relationship would allow the company to enter into more community partnerships.
Since then, Klement has announced a new 10-year sponsorship deal with Summerfest and another deal making the company the official brat, hot dog and sausage provider of the Milwaukee Bucks and the new downtown arena.
Klement also declared itself the “unofficial hometown brat” ahead of the start of the 2018 baseball season.
