For 91 years, the Battisti family has been involved in the food and grocery business, but pork roll and meat processing was always something Gabriel “Jay” Battisti was interested in.
The result of that interest is a small business tucked away on Yardville-Allentown Road, and it’s called The Pork Roll Store.
The business is completely family-run: Battisti, his son, Dave, and daughter, Robbie can all be found in the store, whether they’re stocking shelves, working in the office or processing meat.
The most noteworthy aspect of The Pork Roll Store is that all of the meat sold in the store is made on location. Basically, it’s a pork roll factory with a storefront.
“It’s not like a store where you say, oh … I’ll order it. No, you’ve got to make it,” Gabriel Battisti said. “You go to Shoprite, and they don’t make it. They’ve got to buy it, and they look to a person like us to buy pork roll.”
Customers will find a variety of meats and convenience store foods at the storefront, but the business specializes in three specific meats: pork roll, kielbasa and Italian sausage.
Hamilton native Dave Battisti said the business began because the family knew about meat processing, and decided to continue to improve on a product.
“We’re a niche market, because we manufacture what we sell,” Battisti said.
But his father pointed out that the store is not a local business. The Pork Roll Store ships products anywhere in the world, and sells retail, wholesale and mail order products.
Customers do come from the surrounding area, but it’s not uncommon for customers to travel from various parts of New Jersey to pick up custom orders from the USDA-certified store. Other store services include custom meat slicing and food orders.
Though the Battistis have been in the food business for 91 years, their storefronts hadn’t always gone by the name of The Pork Roll Store.
Dave Battisti said he grew up helping in the stores with his father, just as his father had done.
Business started when Gabriel Battisti’s father opened an Italian import store in Chambersburg. When Gabriel Battisti was 22, he opened up a corner butcher shop on Brookside Avenue in Hamilton. He then changed venues and opened a Thriftway supermarket, where he worked for more than 45 years.
The family purchased the current property in the early 1970s, but didn’t move into it until nearly 15 years later, after it had been retrofitted to USDA standards. The Pork Roll Store has been in its present location for more than 30 years, and Dave Battisti said it’s continued to change throughout that time.
The retail side of the store is managed by Rob-Dav Industries, which Robbie Battisti oversees as president.
Though the store stands out from others because of its in-house meat processing, the atmosphere is also unlike many other convenience stores. The walls are full of antiques and memorabilia, some that has been passed down through the Battisti family like vintage bikes and furniture from Italy, and some items that have been acquired over the years. One item is what Dave Battisti calls the “stove of ’42,” though he doesn’t know how old it really is. He had purchased the antique stove when he was a kid.
Battisti explained that the numerous items around the store were simply items he didn’t want to store — so instead, he used them to decorate.
The Pork Roll Store is located at 1251 Yardville-Allentown Road on the border of Hamilton and Allentown. For more information, call the store at (609) 259-6335. On the Web: countrmymadeporkroll.com.
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