In the heart of south Alabama, just off I-65 in Evergreen, the scent of hickory smoke has long told you that you’re near Conecuh Sausage. It’s more than just a smell — it’s tradition, pride and family. For decades, the Sessions family has been crafting some of the South’s most beloved smoked sausage, and now, they’re taking the next big step — a $58 million move to a new production facility in Andalusia, just 26 miles away.
For John Crum Sessions, president of the company and son of its founder, it’s a move that honors the past while embracing the future.
A Legacy That Began in a Locker Plant
The story begins in 1947, when Sessions’ father, Henry Sessions, returned from World War II with an idea and a mission. In Conecuh County, he opened a locker plant with 100 rentable lockers for locals to store their vegetables. But it didn’t take long for sausage to steal the show.
“My father started delivering sausage, franks, red hots and baloney to country stores from here to Montgomery,” Sessions recalls. “We had 100 stops between Evergreen and Montgomery. That’s how many country stores there were back then.”
Henry Sessions’ recipe, perfected in 1952 with help from Griffith Laboratories — the same company that helped develop Kentucky Fried Chicken’s secret seasoning — was the start of a flavor legacy that would stretch far beyond the county line.
Building a Brand One Link at a Time
John Sessions joined the business in 1968 at the age of 14, starting at the bottom — loading trucks, sweeping floors and doing maintenance. After his father passed away in 1978, John and his mother took the reins. In 1986, they built a new plant in Evergreen and transitioned to USDA inspection a year later, which allowed them to sell outside of Alabama.
“That was a tremendous help,” Sessions says. “Before that, we were limited to just selling in the state. Once we could cross state lines, everything changed.”
Conecuh Sausage quickly became a staple not just in Alabama, but across the South and beyond. Tailgaters, campers and backyard grillers made it their go-to sausage, and the company expanded four times to keep up with demand.
“We didn’t even grill the sausage until the ’80s,” Sessions says. “But once we did, it just exploded — especially with tailgating and football. Everybody had Conecuh Sausage.”
Today, Conecuh Sausage is still very much a family business. John’s son, John Henry Sessions, serves as vice president. His daughter-in-law, Jamie, manages gift shop orders and serves as the company nurse. Two grandchildren, Kristan and John Travis, are attending the University of Alabama and plan to join the company after graduation.
Sessions feels sure they’ll be joining a company that’s continuing to grow.
“We have about 150 employees now, and we’re set up to add another production line if needed,” he says.
A Difficult Move
The decision to move production from Evergreen to Andalusia wasn’t easy — but it was necessary, Sessions says.
The USDA’s increasing facility requirements meant that upgrading the current plant would be costly and logistically difficult. Sessions and his team explored options, including a location in Oklahoma, before Andalusia stepped up with an attractive offer: 76 acres of land and the promise of better logistics. The city received a $400,000 grant that was used to make infrastructure improvements for the new facility, which is scheduled to open in September.
“We have been working for decades to be prepared when a company like Conecuh Sausage was ready to expand here, and we appreciate the Sessions family for their confidence in our community and the investment they are making here,” Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson said when the project was announced in February 2024. “I cannot overstate the positive impact this facility and the jobs it will generate will have on our community in the coming years. Many people worked very hard to put this project together, and we are appreciative of their efforts.”
The new facility, built on two-and-a-half acres of concrete, is designed for efficiency and food safety. Sausage enters one end and exits the other, reducing the risk of cross-contamination — a USDA priority. The layout also doubles the company’s output capacity.
What Stays the Same
Despite the new address, the heart of Conecuh Sausage remains unchanged.
“The recipe’s the same. The seasoning supplier is the same. We taste almost every batch ourselves to make sure it meets our approval,” Sessions says.
The sausage lineup — ranging from hickory-smoked original to Cajun, hot and spicy, cracked black pepper and seasonal varieties — will all continue to be made to the same high standard.
Even the gift shop in Evergreen, which attracts around 300 visitors a day, will stay open. There, visitors can buy sausage, jellies and T-shirts, as well as hot sausage from the rotisserie grill.
The sausage hasn’t changed in 60 years, despite upgrades that have included switching to vacuum packing instead of overwrap.
“When we did that, some folks thought we’d changed the sausage,” Sessions says. “But the product has always been the same. High quality pork and seasoning — that’s what’s brought us to where we are today.”
A Global Reach, But Deep Local Roots
Conecuh Sausage is distributed in 26 states and ships to every U.S. state but California. It’s also available internationally, on U.S. military bases from Germany to Japan.
When Sessions mentioned the move to Andalusia, some locals asked if he’d change the name to reflect the new location.
“I told them, ‘You’ve still got the Conecuh River over there,” he says. “You’ve got the Conecuh National Forest. And now you’ll have Conecuh Sausage, too.’”
That Alabama pride extends beyond sausage. The company supports local schools, parades, veterans and sports teams in both Evergreen and Andalusia. And once the Andalusia plant is fully operational, Sessions says they plan to get even more involved.
“They’re redoing a motel there now — used to be a bank — and the town’s growing fast,” he says. “We’re excited to be part of that.”
Sessions says he’s excited to see Conecuh Sausage grow along with its new hometown.
Sausage is the core product, but the company also sells hams and turkeys seasonally, and more innovations may be on the horizon once the Andalusia facility is up and running.
“You’ve got to keep growing,” Sessions says. “If you’re not growing, you’re going backward.”
The company’s mascot — a pig sculpture — will make the move to Andalusia, and it will be standing proud once the new plant opens in September. Sessions, too, plans to move from Evergreen to Andalusia.
And he’ll still be making, and eating, his family’s sausage, sometimes grilling it with sauce or mustard, sometimes with white bread.
“I never get tired of it,” he says.
Alec Harvey is executive editor of Business Alabama, working from the Birmingham office. Stew Milne is an Auburn-based freelance contributor.
This article appears in the July 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
