At McCall’s Produce Market in Honea Path, it’s all about how the sausage gets made.
Known far and wide as the best sausage you’ll ever eat, Mike McCall’s mild, medium and hot sausage selections have a fan base that stretches across the Carolinas and Georgia and reaches as far as Louisiana and Texas.
“We use local, grain fed hogs,” McCall says. “And I don’t put anything in the sausage pile that I don’t think you’d put in a pan, fry it and eat by itself.”
McCall and his father began making their now famous all natural, country pork sausage in 1984, but it wasn’t until 2005 that Mike and his wife, Rene, opened their store on E. Greer Street in Honea Path.
“We’re here basically because of his family’s sausage,” Mrs. McCall says. “It was his dream to open up a store and I just followed in.”
While the sausage takes center stage at McCall’s, you’ll find all types of locally made products from milk and honey to metal art and birdhouses.
“We try as much as we can to support our local people,” Mrs. McCall said. “For me, personally, I like to shop local. If I can buy it in Honea Path, I buy it in Honea Path because I’m just a true believer of that.”
Always on the lookout for products made close by, the McCall’s have made friends at farmers markets across the Carolinas. And when they find a good seller, they do their part to extend the brand.
“We’re trying to expand Gary Brown’s metal art and one of our honey guys up in Greer,” McCall said. “We talked to a lady up there who owns a store and she said, ‘bring it.’”
Growing the brand is something the McCall’s know a bit about. Once relying on a meat processor to slaughter the hogs, package the meat and market his sausage to area stores, McCall now is handling all of those duties himself. McCall’s Country Sausage is now sold in more than 10 markets and restaurants across the Upstate.
“Now that we’re doing it all ourselves, it has really taken off,” McCall said. “Some stores are taking in 150 pounds per week or better.”
Business at the store continues to expand, as well, as word of McCall’s savory sausage continues to spread and as wintertime awakens the sausage eaters.
“We’ll have people come in at the first cold snap and say, ‘oh, we can eat sausage now,’” Mrs. McCall said. “We sell it year-round but we really sell it in the winter.”
Winter also is a good time to wander into McCall’s just in case there’s a cast iron skillet over the fire.
“A lot of people know that, in the winter, Mike cooks and they’ll stop by and get a sausage biscuit,” Mrs. McCall said.
And if you’re wondering which level – mild, medium or hot – is the better seller, McCall said it’s fairly even.
“We used to have a mild and a hot, and people were mixing them together themselves, so we started making a medium,” McCall said. “I don’t know of anyone else that has a medium. It has a little kick to it, but it’s not overbearing.”
Whatever the degree, folks in Anderson County and beyond swear by McCall’s all natural, country pork sausage.
“I’ll bet the farm that it’s the best sausage you’ll ever eat,” Mrs. McCall said.
Look for McCall’s pork sausage at these retailers across the Upstate:
- Bee Well Honey Natural Market, Pickens
- Corley’s Market & Grill, Greenwood
- G & G Retail, Greenville
- Grits & Groceries, Belton
- Happy Cow Creamery, Pelzer
- Hochstetler’s Country Store, Seneca
- Mauldin Open Air Market, Mauldin
- Ole Tyme Country Store, Greer
- Southern Oaks Jerseys, Farm & Creamery, Abbeville
- Sunny Side Café, Clemson
- The Melt Pizzeria, Honea Path
- Winslett’s Produce Market, Easley
Want to visit?
McCall’s Produce Market, 306 E. Greer Street, Honea Path SC 29654, (864) 369-7004
Winter Hours: Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; Thursday – Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Find McCall’s Produce Market on Facebook @McCallsProduceMarketHoneaPathSC
