What happens when two Connecticut food families sit down and go over their history? A conversation worth sharing.
There's something special about two people who don't need to explain themselves to each other. When Bob LaBonne Jr. and Eric Hummel recently sat down together, that's exactly what it felt like — two stewards of multigenerational family businesses, speaking the same language.
We are both Connecticut based, built on a simple but uncompromising belief: that quality service and people are everything. And while one family built its name in fresh meats and neighborhood grocery, the other built itself in handcrafted sausages and deli staples, the thread connecting us runs deep.
It Started with $1,000 and a Dream
Eric Hummel's grandfather and great-uncle didn't have much when they started out — just $1,000 and the kind of work ethic that only comes from having no other option. In 1933, the two German immigrant brothers used that money to purchase a struggling sausage operation called Phil's Sausage Kitchen. As trained Wurstmachers — apprentice sausage makers — back in Germany, they knew exactly what it would take to do it right. Hummel Bros. was born, and it never looked back.
The LaBonne's story has its own humble beginning. Bob LaBonne Jr.'s grandfather, Hy LaBonne, was a skilled meat cutter with more than four decades of experience and a quiet dream of owning something of his own. When Hy found himself in a tough spot, Bob Sr. saw an opportunity: a small storefront on Main Street in Watertown. They both cashed in their life insurance policies and bet on themselves. That was 1962.
"My father had two other partners in a store in Oakville," Bob LaBonne Jr. recalled. "My grandfather was found in the cooler crying. They ran up too much credit — and my dad said, 'There's this little teeny store that just opened up on Main Street. Why don't we cash in our life insurance policies and we'll go out together.'"
Family Is the Business
What strikes you most talking to Eric Hummel isn't the history — it's how naturally he describes the culture his family built around it.
"It's the employees," he said simply. "Everybody becomes family. We try to make it a family atmosphere — which you do in your (LaBonne's) stores. We have four generations of people that have worked for us. And that commitment, that pride — it's just a natural blend."
That sentiment stays true for LaBonne's Markets. Today, with four stores and over 400 associates, the company Bob Sr. and Hy started in a modest Watertown meat market has grown into something far bigger — while managing to stay just as personal.
Quality as a Compass
LaBonne’s and Hummel Bros.’ have used quality as their north star through every decade of change. Hummel Bros.' third generation continues to produce only the highest quality products, replacing outdated equipment with state-of-the-art smokehouses while staying true to their grandfather's quality-first philosophy. At LaBonne's, that same commitment traces back even further — to George LaBonne, who at the turn of the century delivered fresh fish and meat directly to local families and businesses by horse and buggy.
The tools have changed. The scale has changed. But the philosophy hasn't.
A Partnership Worth Celebrating
At the end of their conversation, Eric Hummel said something that summed it all up:
"LaBonne's is a great story. It really is — and we're proud to be part of it with you."
That pride very much goes both ways. Two families, two sets of founders who bet everything on something they believed in, and two companies that have spent generations proving them right.
Find Hummel Bros. products at LaBonne's and hundreds of locations across southern New England.