SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023 - 12

PROCESSOR PROFILE
Lessons learned
The founders of The Baconer reflect
on the rewards and hard knocks
of their former business
By Joel Crews
jcrews@sosland.com
T
12
he Baconer was founded in 2016, by husband-and-wife
entrepreneurs Camilo
Velasquez, his wife, Elisa Lewis and their
friend and business partner Dana Young
in Emeryville, Calif. In 2017, Camilo
quit his day job and the trio's sole focus
became growing the premium bacon
business, selling his unique bacon products at
farmer's markets around the Bay Area. As demand
grew from selling directly to consumers to offering
products to retail customers, the company's
production moved into a local commissary-style,
2023 BACON TRENDS + TECHNOLOGY MEAT+POULTRY
Elisa Lewis and Camilo
Velasquez successfully
navigated their company
through the peak of the
pandemic but headwinds
in 2022 proved to be
insurmountable.
commercial kitchen in Oakland, Calif., then to a
federally inspected facility in Santa Clara and later,
production shifted to a pork-processing co-packer.
As distribution expanded to include customers
operating specialty grocery stores in the Bay
Area, growth in the foodservice channel began
to flourish and soon, operators of boutique and
even national hotel chains began placing orders,
including the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco.
With an established, thriving e-commerce site to
keep the business growing during the height of
the COVID pandemic, business was good, and
the future looked bright, including partnerships
with retailer Eataly North America and Food52,
an e-commerce website targeting foodies and
food companies.
THE BEST OF TIMES
In a MEAT+POULTRY feature published in early
2022, Velasquez said the company's sales doubled
in each of the previous three years and the team
was expanding the brand at that time with the rollout
of a line of bacon-focused rubs. Fueled by the
The Baconer

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023 - 1
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023 - 2
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023 - 3
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023 - 4
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SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Bacon Trends + Technology - March 2023 - 12
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https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-july-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-june-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-may-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-april-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-march-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-bacon-trends-technology-march-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-february-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-january-2024
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-december-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-november-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-october-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-september-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-august-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-ground-meat-trends-technology-july-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-july-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-june-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-may-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-april-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-bacon-trends-technology-march-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-march-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-february-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-january-2023
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-december-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-november-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-october-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-ground-beef-trends-technology-september-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-september-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-august-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-july-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-june-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-meat-alternative-trends-and-technology-may-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-may-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-april-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-bacon-trends-technology-march-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-march-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-february-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-january-2022
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/-meatpoultry-december-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-november-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-october-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-ground-meat-trends-technology-october-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-september-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-august-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-july-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-june-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-may-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/special-supplement-meat-alternatives-may-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-april-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/meatpoultry-march-2021
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/2021_02_01
https://digital.meatpoultry.com/sosland/mp/2021_01_01
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https://www.nxtbook.com/sosland/mp/2015_01_01_mp
https://www.nxtbook.com/sosland/mp/2014_12_01
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