Minnesota Vikings management has wandered well into Packers territory to secure its sole provider of hot dogs at home games for this season and the next.
La Crosse-based Schweigert, situated 160 miles southeast of Minneapolis and 200 miles west of Green Bay, announced the agreement Thursday.
Schweigert said it also locked up an accompanying agreement with Aramark food services that makes it the lone hot dog provider at U.S. Bank Stadium not only for Vikings games but for any event staged at the new venue in downtown Minneapolis.
Schweigert has been supplying hot dogs there on an informal basis since the stadium opened in July, said company owner and President Mike Bakalars.
"This is an incredible marketing opportunity to partner with an incredible brand that is the Minnesota Vikings," Bakalars said.
For the first regular-season home game, roughly 30,000 Schweigert hot dogs were sold. Bakalars called that "a good start, with room to grow."
Schweigert also has been the exclusive hot dog provider for Minnesota Twins home games since Target Field opened in 2010.
The Schweigert brand was bought by the Bakalars Sausage Co. in 2015 from Twin Cities-based Cargill.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
