How to become a sausage maker

We talked with Mrs. Khampong (52). She lives in Phonsaad Tai, Peak District, Xiengkhuang Province. She is a supermom who launched her sausage business over 10 years ago.

1.    How did you decide to become a sausage producer? 

Many years ago, when my family still lived in Oudomxay, an elder in the village taught me how to make sausages. After my family moved to Xiengkhuang we were quite poor and we needed money, so I decided to start my own sausage making business. In the beginning, I made about 3-4 kg of sausages a day and sold them at the Xiengkhuang market. I did that for about a year but I had lots of competitors and it was tough to earn income.
I knew I needed to improve my product, so I spent several months adapting my recipe. I started mixing in local ingredients and eventually, I came up with a unique product that helped me to gain a bigger market share and eventually to expand to other provinces.

2.    Could you describe sausage production for us? 

My recipes are a mix of pork, beef, herbs and vegetables. Based on the quality of meat avail-able, we make 3 different types of sausages as well as sour pork. In the past we only made about 4-5 kg of sweet and bitter sausages per day but these days we produce 25-30 kg of sausages per day.

We prepare the meat early in the morning. I have a trusted meat supplier and we only buy from him. For years we minced the meat with a hand powered meat grinder but recently we started using a machine that does it faster. So every day we grind the meat, prepare all the other ingredients and then fill the well-cleaned, natural sausage casings. After that we let the sausages dry.
Sausage making is not physically hard work but you need to be patient because it is time-consuming. It takes anything from a half day to a day to make one batch. You al-so need to make sure you only use the best ingredients and that your product is clean and you do every step properly. 

3. What does one need to do to start a sausage business?

Sausages are a great local product that can potentially provide a huge income for a family. The key is to have a recipe that people like. Start small, using a recipe that you know, and then adapt it until you come up with your own unique recipe that is popular with consumers.

4. How much does it typically cost to get started? 

To start a sausage business, you need about 2 million kip. For sweet sausages I can buy all the ingredients from the local wet market, but our herb sausages have a special ingredient that needs to be shipped from Vientiane.

5.    What is the income like? 

We sell about 25-30 kg a day for 80,000- 90,000 LAK per kg and can get profit around 15-20 million Kip per month. Our main customers are house-wives, office workers and teenagers. We sell our products at Phoukahm and New Xiengkhuang markets but also ship them on request to Vientiane for special occasions like baci ceremonies, weddings, and new year parties. For orders over 15 kg we offer free shipping.

6.    What do you like most about sausage making?

I really like the taste of our sausages! They have a unique, fresh, Xiengkhouang taste. I also like the fact that this is a harmonious family business for us, and that I’ve been able to transfer my knowledge and skills down to other members of my family. I can honestly say that every person in our family can make equally tasty, top quality sau-sages as I can. This is something that I’m proud of. I also enjoy working on new recipes so that we can expand our product line and offer more options to our customers.

7.    What are the biggest challenges of a sausage producer?

Due to the economic growth in our country, more people are importing products from overseas. As a result, younger people are less eager to consume local Xiengkhuang products. We try to attract customers with attractive branding and quality certificates but it’s not always enough. 
Another challenge is the price fluctuation of ingredients and the fact that we do not have enough people to do all the work. Currently we rely on our family members to do all the work.

8.    Helpful resources and links on this topic:

If you want to learn how to make sausages you can find information online. For ex-ample you can type “How to make sausages” on Youtube. I would also be happy to share information. You can call me at 55342026 or come visit our sausage factory. You can also follow our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nol.bounpheng?ref=br_rs