The Popularity of Pepperoni

The One-Man Pep Band, part of the Hormel^® pepperoni Pep It Up^® campaign, visited Austin, Minn., during the company’s 125th anniversary celebrations.

George A. Hormel once said, “I think it was the sausage,” when responding to a question of how the company was able to be profitable in its early years. The Hormel^® pepperoni brand, one of the company’s most popular varieties of dry sausage, celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2015.

The origins of pepperoni trace back to medieval times when sausage became a popular food in Europe. The spices required for sausage production were only found in Asia. The spice trade necessary to sustain production built cities and spurred empires. Pepperoni was introduced to the United States in the early 1900s by European immigrants. In 1915, Hormel Foods established the dry sausage division to capitalize on the popularity of sausage in European immigrant communities.

The popularity of pepperoni in the United States dramatically increased with the pizzeria boom in the 1970s. Pepperoni remains the most popular pizza topping in foodservice outlets to this day.

As the demand for pepperoni grew over time, new plants were built. In 1970, the company built a dry sausage facility in Algona, Iowa, and seven years later another plant in Knoxville, Iowa. Today pepperoni is still being made at both of these locations, as well as at the Austin (Minn.) Plant.