About Us
The Amana Meat Shop & Smokehouse is located in the Amana Colonies, a historic community in eastern Iowa. Founded by German immigrants, the Amana people settled in Iowa in the 1850s and established a unique communal society based on shared property, communal living, and self-sufficiency principles.
Amana settlers from the German province of Westphalia brought the skill and knowledge of curing and smoking meat. Amana Westphalia hams offered a distinctive and sought-after flavor, famous in the old country for its recipe.
Initially, Amana meat shops only offered hams and meat products to the local community kitchens. In the 1930s, the Amana Colonies transitioned away from a communal way of life, opening the outside world to Amana products.
As Amana's reputation for quality products spread, the Amana Colonies quickly became a destination for travelers. Three decades before the interstate highway system was built, visitors came by railway to experience exceptional food and small-town hospitality.
With more and more people visiting the Amana Colonies, requests grew to deliver Amana Hams to travelers' homes. George Schuerer, the manager at the time, reported that the outlook for mail orders was promising and George was right! Mail orders accounted for 30% of the meat shop's sales by 1965.
In the late 1990s, the Amana Meat Shop formed a new mail-order department to focus on shipping and developing a gift box program. The original offering of seven varieties of gift boxes highlighted our meats and specialties like horseradish, mustard, and other local condiments. Over the years, we have expanded our offerings and provided various smoked meats, cheeses, and Midwest-raised beef, shipping to all 50 states and Canada.
While our smokehouse and production have been modernized over the years, we continue to operate out of our original 1858 building in Amana, Iowa. We take all of your calls and ship all of our packages on-site. Come November 1st it's all hands on deck with 12 full-time employees and 20-25 part-time/seasonal helpers to handle our seasonal rush.
Due to its historical significance and commitment to preserving its unique culture, architecture, and traditional way of life, the Amana Colonies remains a popular tourist destination.
Please stop in and say hi if you are ever in our area! Ask to check out our original smokehouse. We never tire of sharing the smoky aroma and beauty of black charred walls deposited from countless hickory fires and a hundred years of crafting Amana hams.
Our retail store hours are Monday-Saturday from 9:00am to 5:00pm and Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. To confirm hours or product availability for our retail store, call (319) 622-7586.
