There's a Lot to Love About Lottie's Meats

“Seeing how the sausage is made” has long been an idiom for behind-the-scenes unpleasantness, but that’s not the case at Lottie’s Meats & Provisions, one of Denver’s newest purveyors of porky goodness. Sisters Cassie and Chelsey Maschhoff — whose family has produced pork for six generations on a southern Illinois farm — are proud of their product from start to finish.

“We only use premium cuts, pork loin and pork shoulder,” says Cassie. “And high-quality spices and Chelsey’s very talented technique. We’re not just your average sausage brand.”

Lottie’s, which launched in January, has four core offerings (two fully cooked and two raw) along with occasional variations and “spinoff” flavors like andouille. The Lottie is a “big kid hot dog,” flavored with nutmeg, paprika and coriander, while the bratwurst sings with fresh mustard seed, ginger and nutmeg. The Everything is a classic, well-seasoned breakfast sausage, while the Calabrian bites with chiles and raw garlic.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chelsey honed her skills at local restaurants before signing on as sous chef at Caroline Glover’s award-winning Annette in Aurora. Cassie, who laughingly refers to herself as “Sister Number Two,” took the tech track, working at Google and Waze after earning an MBA at New York University.

Lottie’s is not the sisters’ first business venture. “I think a lot of people assume that, you know, working so closely with a family member would be hard," says Chelsey. “But actually, that has been one of the biggest blessings and benefits, because with our communication styles, we understood each other from day one. We’re only two years apart. Growing up, we were constantly trying to move into each other's rooms and were always starting businesses on the farm. Not just a lemonade stand; we started a little mini-bakery, and we would sell to employees and people driving down the road.”

The business name comes from a beloved great-aunt, but there have been many Lotties. “It's a family name,” says Cassie. "It's always been in the family. [There are] lots of different stories about Lottie, but Lottie really embodies all of the women in our family who paved the way for us and played in the big leagues, and we really wanted to use it as part of our brand.”

The family is all in on this venture. The son of the original Lottie "just turned 100,” Chelsey notes. “We sent him a Lottie’s hat, and his whole family always buys a lot of product because they just are so proud and excited.”

After starting with direct-to-consumer sales, with Chelsey producing each sausage at a commissary kitchen on the former Johnson & Wales campus, Lottie’s made its retail debut in March. Sausages are now on the shelves at Leevers Locavore, Little Bodega and Spinelli’s, to name a few outlets, and are also on offer at GetRight's, Outside Pizza and others.

Lottie’s also does numerous pop-ups and tastings with local businesses, and will make its farmers' market debut on May 19 at the Highlands Square Farmers Market.

Learn more about Lottie's here.