Crystal Bay Food Holdings casts wider net with Rogge’s Sausage acquisition

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

June 2, 2025

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Crystal Bay Food Holdings has acquired Rogge’s Sausage, Inc. – a move President/Co-owner Todd Van Lannen said broadens its regional food distribution network with a complementary, family run, locally owned business.

Van Lannen said Rogge’s Sausage is a great addition to Crystal Bay Food Holdings for several reasons.

“Rogge’s has an excellent product, great service, similar values, a more pronounced supply chain because they have trucking all over the State of Wisconsin and a packaging division in their Omro operation,” he said. “And, we can enhance Crystal Bay Foods’ seafood and beef division with Rogge’s broader customer base.”

Van Lannen said Crystal Bay is a family owned business committed to delivering high-quality seafood and meat products in Wisconsin, Upper Michigan and northern Illinois.

The Rogge’s Sausage acquisition, he said, comes as Jeff Rogge – the third-generation owner and grandson of the company’s founder – transitions into retirement.

Van Lannen said that presented the opportunity for him and his brothers – who have owned Crystal Bay Foods for the past four years – to step up and purchase the much larger Rogge’s Sausage. 

“Rogge’s has been a part of my family for three generations, and serving our customers for so many years has been an honor,” Jeff said. “I’m grateful to see the company continue under Crystal Bay’s leadership, and their commitment to quality and personal service ensures that Rogge’s will remain a trusted name for years to come.”

Van Lannen said he and his brothers appreciated the alignment in operations at Rogge’s Sausage.

“They’ve been around for 90 years as a family run company, and that has importance to us,” he said. “We grew up in Pulaski and have our business close to that area – they grew up in the Omro/Oshkosh area and have done the same.”

Van Lannen said Rogge’s Sausage has been serving Wisconsin and nearby states since 1938, while Crystal Bay Foods was established in 1986.

“We plan to keep the (companies’) footprints where they are, as well as retain that family level service and touch, as we scale where we can cover our customers’ needs,” he said. 

Van Lannen said the acquisition comes even as the food industry is “indifferent” right now because of pricing.

He said several very large distributors have closed recently, creating opportunities for others in the industry to procure more customers.

The opportunity to acquire a company with which there was so much alignment, Van Lannen said, just made sense.

“It was a matter of ‘ready or not,’ because this is such a great opportunity with a well-respected company, so let’s figure this out because its value will fit so well,” he said.

Crystal Bay Foods’ evolution

Van Lannen said Crystal Bay Foods was built on a relationship-based model from the beginning, with the original two owners focusing on customer service and long-term relationships.

When he and his brothers purchased the company, Van Lannen said he brought his vast experience from his Georgia-Pacific (G-P) career to the table.

Van Lannen said he was working for G-P in the food service channel’s supply chain when he and his brothers sought an opportunity that aligned with their experience in transportation and supply chain management. 

He said they were drawn to the service-focused distribution company that had a focus on fresh product and great service.

Crystal Bay Foods – according to its website (crystalbayfoods.com) – provides beef, pork and seafood products to grocery stores and meat markets, big and small.

Van Lannen said customers like working with Crystal Bay Foods because they can count on product freshness – for example, they pick up their beef products three times a week.

“We’re trying to get retailers the freshest product they possibly can get so the end user gets the freshest quality product,” he said. “(In other operations), when product is inventoried and shipped, it may be two to three weeks old by the time some stores receive it.”

Though they have remained true to the premise of their business operations, Van Lannen said they have elevated Crystal Bay Foods since purchasing the company.

Van Lannen said he acknowledged the industry can lean toward being more “old school,” and it’s only been under their leadership that they have created a business website; modified the name from Crystal Bay Seafood to Foods to create more awareness of their product breadth; and integrated technology. 

“The former owners did a very good job of creating a business to a point where they grew to a very manageable level,” he said. “Upon purchasing Crystal Bay Foods, we implemented an ERP system as we aimed for growth.”

Alongside that, Van Lannen said Crystal Bay Foods knew it wanted growth, be it organically or through acquisitions.

Admittedly, he said it’s an interesting time for the food industry because of variables in pricing given the economic factors at play.

For Crystal Bay Foods, Van Lannen said one of its biggest challenges is beef product availability with the national cattle shortage – the most significant one in decades.

“(The challenges are) supply and demand, as fertilizer and feed got expensive and a lot of cattle businesses sold their cows at that time,” he said. “It takes 18 months to raise a cow for butchering, and (the phase) we are in now, is that there isn’t enough beef to handle the demand. It may take a while to turn around as fertilizer and feed have come down (in price), but the cost of the animal is still very expensive when it’s young.”

Van Lannen said he anticipates the situation will be much different, even a year from now, when there is double the number of cattle available and supply and demand even out.

“That should bring prices down,” he said.  

The seafood that is the No. 1 seller for both Crystal Bay Foods and Rogge’s Foods, Van Lannen said, is significantly impacted by tariffs and other unknowns.

“We’re living in flux, not knowing where tariffs will land,” he said. “I think it will ultimately land somewhere in the 10% tariffs across the board on seafood items. That begs the question of how to mitigate that by taking some cost out of the supply chain to provide a good price back to the customer and/or raise prices. It’s an unknown for everybody, but we have a pretty good plan and can order accordingly.”

Many of Crystal Bay Foods’ customers call in weekly or twice-weekly orders, Van Lannen said, with 99.9% of business being repeat business.

With that kind of frequency, he said the team is in regular contact with customers about price shifts as a result of volatile markets. 

“We have the kind of relationship with our customers where we have honest conversations,” he said. “They trust us to tell them what’s really happening in the market and what they can expect in terms of pricing. If there is a shortage of product coming up, we advise customers to buy a bit early, for example. Honest-based conversations are not only how you get the short-term with the customer but also the long-term wins and return business. That is a pillar of both Crystal Bay and Rogge’s.”

Bringing Rogge’s into the fold

Though the Rogge’s name currently has the word Sausage in it, Van Lannen said the company hasn’t sold beef or pork in recent years.

As such, he said Crystal Bay Foods plans to rebrand Rogge’s Sausage to Rogge’s Foods because its predominant sales are in seafood items.

What won’t change, Van Lannen said, is the Rogge’s Sausage business location or the employees in the Omro operation.

Under Crystal Bay Foods’ ownership, he said Rogge’s will continue to provide its loyal customer base with high-quality seafood, deli items, cheese, entrees and salads.

Van Lannen said Crystal Bay Foods is excited to offer beef, pork and other meat products to Rogge’s Sausage customers as well.

“Many customers and vendors know Rogge’s branded items and look for them, and we don’t want to upset that apple cart,” he said. “We bought the company with a good understanding that the public knows and loves the Rogge’s brand.”

Van Lannen said he and his brothers have been very intentional about learning Rogge’s operations and respecting – and retaining – what works.

“One of the biggest failures in a lot of companies is to buy a business that has been successful for many years and change what made them successful,” he said. “We are not planning on a lot of change, because we want to (honor) what has made Rogge’s so successful.”

Van Lannen said that includes engaging Rogge’s employees in conversations.

“We’re having strategic, collaborative conversations, asking them how they do ‘x’ versus saying, ‘This is how you need to do things going forward,’” he said. “That’s not who I am or what our business is about. In my experience, you get the best long-term benefit when employees are happy and engaged.”

Van Lannen said that includes those employees who are selling on behalf of Rogge’s – recognizing that any misalignment with the direction of the company is easily picked up on by customers.

“Employees need to believe in the company and be proud to work for it,” he said. “We have Rogge’s employees who are excited to sell new things to their customers.”

Van Lannen said acquiring Rogge’s Sausage was as much about the employees as it was the products and operations.

Crystal Bay Foods, he said, has seven full-time employees.

Adding Rogge’s Sausage to the team, Van Lannen said, brings 27 full-time employees on board.

In addition, he said he has hired about 20 part-time merchandisers on a 1099-employee basis to perform merchandising of products in retail settings. 

The new normal

Van Lannen said Crystal Bay Foods and Rogge’s Sausage (soon to be Rogge’s Foods, LLC) will continue to sell their existing offerings, with Rogge’s to add beef and pork products to its repertoire.

The small rebrand, Van Lannen said, includes a new logo and a new website, roggesfoods.com – which will be launching soon.

He said it will be interesting to see how sales go – with shrimp currently the No. 1 seller for both companies.

Van Lannen said Crystal Bay Foods’ hamburger grinds (used to create fresh hamburger at the store level) and tenderloins are top sellers for the company.

Rogge’s Sausage, he said, sells a lot of shrimp, as well as some items that are complementary to Crystal Bay Foods’ offerings: deli items including potato salads and seafood salads in addition to what Van Lannen calls “Friday fish fry” items, which include cod and perch.

What the Rogge’s operation has that is unique to Crystal Bay Foods, Van Lannen said, is its tray wrap operation.

This, he said, allows the company to assemble, wrap and preprice products that stores can immediately place on the shelf.

Van Lannen said both companies pride themselves on being HACCP certified, following strict food-handling processes to ensure products come in from vendors at the right temperature and stay at the right temperature so when they arrive on the grocery store shelf, it’s high quality.

Van Lannen said vendors also must meet stringent requirements – with all seafood vendors required to be HACCP certified, while all beef and pork products are inspected by the USDA.

Though there is overlap between Crystal Bay Foods and Rogge’s Sausage customers, Van Lannen said he doesn’t see that significantly changing.

“There are a lot of long-standing relationships with customers and that’s a credit to the employees there,” he said. “Our investment includes an investment in the employees at Rogge’s, many of whom have 20-, 30- and even 40-year relationships. They will help us with our future growth.”