Sausage Clips in 2025: How to Cut Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Sausage Clips in 2025: How to Cut Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Many meat processors in North America (Canada and the US) have felt pressure from the market over the past year. Global events, tariff wars, and other factors are driving up the price of raw materials, in this case aluminum, especially when it comes to consumables such as sausage clips.
If you don't think it's a big deal, sausage clips seem like a minor detail. After all, they're just small pieces of aluminum, right? Now think about it: if you have several production lines, and you produce several thousand or tens of thousands of sausages a day, the increase in the cost of clips will inevitably lead to an increase in production costs.
Currently, sausage manufacturers in Canada and the US are overpaying 30-40% of the cost for the brand name when purchasing original sausage clips, but the quality is not improving. However, the market has adapted, and small sausage clip manufacturers not only make clips of the same quality as branded ones, but are also willing to offer prices that are 30, 40, or even 50 percent lower.
The question arises: how can you reduce costs without compromising product quality, safety, or equipment compatibility? Let's talk about it.
Challenge: Consumables are eating into profits
One thing is certain: everything is getting more expensive. According to the latest figures from the USDA and Statista, meat production costs on North American farms rose by 6–9% last year. Of course, the focus is on animal feed, packaging, and logistics. On the processing side, costs are also rising across the entire production chain. And then, of course, there are small consumables such as sausage clips — thousands of them are used every day.
According to meat market research, the average company can use more than 100,000 clips per month. And that's where it gets really serious. For example, you are a sausage manufacturer in any Canadian province. To purchase a thousand clips from a well-known brand, you will spend 22-30 Canadian dollars. This is the price of the clips themselves, plus shipping, customs fees, etc.
But what if we told you that you could pay 16-18 Canadian dollars for exactly the same clips? Without long and expensive shipping and customs fees? Simple math speaks for itself.
Brand loyalty VS smart economics
We should be honest and pay tribute to giant brands. Over decades of work, they have become large corporations and market leaders. They continue to move forward, trying to come up with something new, but everything has its limits, and it is impossible to come up with something more than a sausage clips. Of course, they will manage to come up with a new type of sausage clip, but this is nothing more than a way to retain customers, because the main purpose of a clip is to hold the minced meat in the casing.
Many owners and production managers stick to a “safe” choice strategy, which used to make sense because clips could get stuck or jam the equipment. But those days are gone, and now small manufacturers, who are more flexible than giant manufacturers, can offer clips that are 100% compatible with any brand of clipper.
Today's high-quality compatible clips:
- are made of food-grade aluminum
- have undergone comprehensive testing for tear strength and closing pressure
- are designed for trouble-free operation on all leading clippers
We have personally seen cases where a plant manager conducted blind tests and could not tell the difference between the clips at first glance. The result was the same and even the clips looked the same, but the price was very different. Then, of course, upon closer inspection, it became clear where and what clip was, but this was clear to him as a manufacturer, and now imagine how a potential buyer would see it.
Local deliveries are more important than ever
I would also like to draw your attention to one important factor that affects the cost — International shipping and customs duties.
Monopoly brands often manufacture clips in the European Union and deliver them to their representative offices in North America. This means that you, as a customer, pay for:
- Clips
- Delivery from the factory
- Customs duties
- Warehouse storage
- Currency exchange rate fluctuations
- Unpredictable delays
and other hidden fees.
And if, for example, you are located in Canada and purchase in the US, you pay additionally for:
- Transportation between the US and Canada
- Customs fees
and other possible fees related to the uncertainty in trade relations between Canada and the US.
These factors affect the cost, and if you are price-sensitive and want to keep your product affordable on the market, you will look for more competitively priced goods. That is why more and more processors are turning to local suppliers with regional warehouses and affordable prices.
Take, for example, KOMPO North America Inc. This Canadian company manufactures its own sausage clips and has a permanent warehouse with a stock of clips and other consumables for sausage production. Our sausage clips:
- are fully compatible with major brands
- are available in large quantities, ready for shipment
- cost up to 40% less than competitors
Final thoughts: are you really saving money by staying loyal?
Here, I will digress a little and consider the logic of production managers.
I sincerely understand the hesitation when changing suppliers. No one in their right mind wants production downtime or negative reports from the quality control department. But here's what I always ask processors when they tell me, “We'll just stick with what we know.”
What are you actually paying for? For quality... or just for a familiar name?
The answers are always different. Everyone is tormented by fear of the unknown and loss, but let's be honest — everyone wants to get as much benefit as possible from every minute of production.
If you look deeply at the economy, the basic principle of entrepreneurship is “Get as much benefit as possible at minimal cost.” So we exist so that meat processors and sausage makers can make more money.
It's already halfway through 2025, and we can say that thanks to our clip compatibility, improved materials, and warehousing in North America, our customers have saved approximately $300,000–400,000. Now our customers no longer have to overpay for sausage clips and wait weeks for delivery, as we can deliver sausage clips within a few days, depending on your location. You will also be able to maintain quality, ensure uninterrupted production, and reduce your clip costs by up to 40%.
If you haven't reviewed your clamp supplier in the last 12 months, now is the time to do so.