About Us The Jones Difference
meet the joneses
For seven generations, we’ve been making all-natural pork sausage from our home in Fort Atkinson, WI.
Though we’ve added other products to our offering since the early days, like naturally smoked hams and Canadian bacon, some things have remained constant. Like our dedication to distinctive quality. We’ve always refused to add fillers, binders, preservatives, MSG and nitrites to our sausage. So, our formulations have never changed-and neither has our flavor.
This means the Jones sausage you make your family for breakfast will taste just like it did when you were a kid. Because although the Jones Dairy Farm family has grown over the years, our honest-to-goodness products and way of doing business haven’t.
That’s the Jones difference.
1832
In 1832, the Jones family settled in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, where they made their living as dairy farmers. They had other business ventures, too, such a hotel and a race track. Milo Jones was the head of the family and a land surveyor.
1889
Milo Jones’ son, Milo C. Jones, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and could no longer operate the farm, but he still needed to support his family. So, he made breakfast sausage using his mother’s recipe—just pork, salt and spices—and started selling it to friends and family. Soon enough, he was shipping it by rail to customers near and far. And that’s how Jones Dairy Farm, our family business, began.
1903
We became a leader in food manufacturing—and made our way into households across America through advertising. Starting in 1903, our famous “Little Pig Sausage” ad campaign was featured in popular magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, Literary Digest and Good Housekeeping, bringing our product into the national spotlight.
1920
We became the first meat-packing company to quick-freeze breakfast sausage. This technique locks in freshness without chemicals or preservatives.
1933
1938
Thanks to continued advancements in quick-freezing and packaging, we began shipping products abroad.
1986
Fast-forward to 1986, when we introduced Jones Dairy Farm’s line of fully cooked and browned all-natural breakfast sausage, one of the first of its kind.
1988
Just two years later, we introduced one of the first “light” breakfast sausage products.
2001
We introduced cherrywood smoked bacon, a first in the industry.
2008
All of our products, except scrapple, became Certified Gluten-Free.
2017
We opened our organic plant and later launched its first products in 2019.
Today
Philip H. Jones, our current chairman and CEO, is the great-great grandson of Jones Dairy Farm Founder Milo C. Jones. He has centered his life on two main passions: our family business and food.
Philip remembers discovering his knack for cooking as early as fifth grade. Years later, he trained to become a chef at La Varenne, the prominent French cooking school founded by Anne Willan, noted teacher, author and historian.
Following his experience in Paris, France, Philip moved back to the United States where he worked as a professional chef for more than 10 years. Philip joined the family business in 1991 and served as Jones Dairy Farm president for 20 years from 2001 until 2021.
As an accomplished food industry leader, Philip is well-respected within the foodservice community, with numerous accolades and awards validating his success and contribution to the field.
You know that farmhouse you see in our logo? It’s an illustration of an actual farmhouse that’s part of the Jones Dairy Farm grounds, where members of our family still live and where our products are still produced. Nowadays, the farmhouse hosts Jones Dairy Farm corporate and family events and is a living symbol of our authenticity. It’s even on the National Register of Historic Places, too.
In Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, we’re either all family or like family, it’s one and the same. You can be, too. Check out our careers page to learn about the opportunities we currently have open.