Expanding to ‘meat’ the needs of Shawano County

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 29, 2025

RED RIVER – In a little more than five years, Co-owner Dallas Pingel said Pingel Processing has gone from a small, family-run operation processing a few deer per season to one now needing significantly more space to “meat” the increasing demand.

To accommodate its growing business, Pingel Processing – and the accompanying Red River’s Meat Market – recently broke ground on an 8,290-square-foot-expansion project at W9262 County Road A in Red River – a small, unincorporated community in Shawano County.

With an expected completion date of late 2026, Dallas said the expansion – constructed by Bayland Buildings – will add retail space to the meat market, allow for on-site beef harvesting and give the business more wholesale opportunities.  

“We simply ran out of space,” he said. “We’ve been asked, ‘Why not just stay with how busy you are now?’ I feel like we’ve been neglecting some customers [doing that]. With this area popular for summer travel, we want customers to be able to bring our products to southern Wisconsin, Illinois or wherever else they travel from.”

Dani Pingel, Dallas’s wife and co-owner, said the business has grown faster than expected, and the couple has discussed expanding for about two years.

“We were envisioning it as a small meat market and processing facility, and the next thing we knew, our shelves were bare, the orders were piling in and deer were piled to the sky,” she said. “We’ve outgrown this little shop, and we’re ready to expand.”

Currently, Dani said Pingel Processing has a refrigerated trailer on site because “we literally have no room in our freezers to store all the deer.”

“It’s not cute, and it needs to go,” she laughed. “It’s definitely a space issue. We also can’t build up an inventory of products because we have no space to store them. Many times, customers come in and ask for certain things, but if we just ran out, the only time they would be in stock again is when Dallas makes them.”

Dani said they have also had to turn away restaurants and bars interested in carrying their products.

“We don’t have the capacity to say ‘yes’ right now,” she said. “After you say ‘no’ so many times, they are going to go elsewhere. We aren’t okay saying ‘no’ anymore.”

Dallas said though the expansion will add more retail space and overall square footage, he’s most excited about the addition of on-site beef harvesting.

“There are a few other local meat market facilities that do a great job, but they are very busy,” he said. “Customers who come into our shop have told us they have basically quit raising beef because some of these local slaughterhouses are booking out two years.”

With beef prices “super high right now,” Dallas said Pingel’s ability to process beef on the property will cut out the “middle man.”

“The beef will go right from the farm to here and back to the consumer,” he said. “From people I’ve talked to, they are excited about us being able to offer this service.”

Though more future expansion is not out of the question, Dallas said he wants to help make Pingel Processing a destination.

“We also want to fix up the silo on site so we can serve burgers, hot dogs, sodas, ice cream, etc.,” he said. “That’s one of the things we’d like to do in the next couple of years. County A is a fairly busy road, with a lot of UTV traffic, so we think a lot of folks would appreciate that.”

Dani said the expansion will also include paving the parking lot.

“I’m sure our customers won’t miss the potholes,” she said.

Dallas said the expansion will allow Pingel Processing to explore a few additional areas as well.

“We plan to offer a dog food line – fresh cut dog food and treats,” he said. “There are a few areas we’d like to move into, but we’re not sure which ones will take off.”

What’s offered?

The Pingels said Red River’s Meat Market carries a variety of meat options – including smoked sausage items such as summer sausage, snack sticks, ring sausages, sandwich meats, jerky and other smoked specialties.

The market, Dani said, also offers several varieties of pork bratwurst, all-beef bratwurst, chicken and turkey bratwurst, breakfast sausage and flavored patties.

She said the retail shop even carries a selection of Mrs. Ping’s frozen pizzas, all handmade by the staff.

And when it comes to staffing, the Pingels said their five children also pitch in wherever they’re needed.

“Our two boys have helped skin deer, and our oldest son, Axyl, [attended] the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for the humane handling of animals and has his meat processing specialist certificate from Fox Valley Technical College,” Dallas said. “Our youngest kids, our three girls, will come in at night and make pizzas. We’re super proud of all of our kids – they help with whatever is needed.”

How it all began

Dallas – who began working in the meat industry at age 14 – said Pingel Processing/Red River’s Meat Market started as a deer processing facility in April 2020.

He said they processed only a few deer in the first year, but that number grew to more than 100 by the third year.

Now, Dallas said, it’s not uncommon for them to process 1,000 deer in a season.

The building housing Pingel Processing/Red River’s Meat Market, Dani said, was once a machine shed.

“It once stored tractors, parts and memories,” she said. “It’s a place where generations of Pingels worked side by side. Dallas and I even had our wedding reception in there. We are proud to be the fourth generation to live on this farm and carry on our family’s entrepreneurial spirit. Our kids are the fifth generation to work on the farm.”

Dani said Dallas’ grandparents sold produce from a small stand at the end of the driveway, which they gathered from their many gardens on the property.

“We are basically doing the same thing as they did – sharing locally raised and produced products with our community,” she said.

For more information and to view updates on the expansion into the new year, the couple said to visit pingelprocessing.com or find it on Facebook.