Snack Well. Do Good.
June 23, 2026
By April Pearson
Dan Bellrichard and Liza Hicken want to live simply and make the world a better place, as demonstrated by their volunteer work in the U.S. and abroad. They’ve taken the lessons they learned while serving others and applied them to their business. Based in Decorah, Sogo Snacks offers delicious, nutritious meat sticks produced ethically with simple, clean ingredients.
Peace Corps and AmeriCorps
“I'd never really had the opportunity to travel internationally, and it was something I had always wanted to do,” says Dan Bellrichard, who owns and operates Sogo Snacks with his wife, Liza Hicken. “I wanted to see the world a little bit, not just as a tourist, but as somebody actually living in the community. So right after I graduated from Luther College, I joined the Peace Corps.”
Bellrichard served in Mali, West Africa, from 2001 to 2003. Meanwhile, Hicken joined AmeriCorps and maintained trails for the Montana Conservation Corps, then visited Bellrichard in Mali for several months.
After they returned to the U.S., they both volunteered for AmeriCorps in New Mexico, where Hicken helped women in drug treatment earn their GEDs, and Bellrichard helped small businesses that couldn’t get loans because of medical debt.
Decorah Calling
As Bellrichard and Hicken traveled around the world and back again, Iowa kept calling them home. “Liza and I are from Minnesota, but we both went to Luther College and fell in love with Decorah,” says Bellrichard. “It’s unique and vibrant. It’s in the Driftless Area with all the bluffs and trout streams, and it’s kind of the hub for a lot of the small towns in the area. We knew we wanted to raise our family here.” The only problem? Lack of job opportunities.
The idea for Sogo Snacks started when the grass-fed beef producer Bellrichard was working for sold his business. The new company kept Bellrichard on staff but couldn't guarantee that he could remain in Decorah. He says, “It got to the point where I needed to decide if I was going to stay with the company or quit my job and start my own business.”
He quit his job in 2016 and launched Sogo Snacks six months later. “We started the business out of wanting to continue to live in Decorah. I was hoping to make it five years, and we're going on 10.”
Bellrichard and Hicken have built a life and a business in Iowa, but Mali is never far from their hearts. Their business name, “Sogo,” is the local Malian word for “meat,” and Sogo’s logo, the Baobab, is a West African tree that’s important in the day-to-day lives of the people who live there. “It’s my way of paying homage to my time in the Peace Corps,” says Bellrichard.
12 Types of Tasty Treats
“We’re pretty particular with the proteins we use, because we want to make sure that how they’re fed and raised match our brand values,” says Bellrichard. “We’re ultra homed in on meat quality and consistency. And if that means paying more, that means paying more.”
Sogo Snacks start with 100% grass-fed, pasture-raised beef; vegetarian-fed, crate-free pork; and free-range turkeys from small, family-owned operations. They’re processed in an Iowa smokehouse according to the recipes Bellrichard and Hicken developed over months of experimentation — working with spice companies to establish baseline flavor profiles, then tweaking for taste, nutrition, allergens and shelf stability.
“It's amazing how a different protein can change the taste of the same spice recipe. For example, we have two chimichurris (chimichurri beef and chimichurri turkey), and they taste completely different,” says Bellrichard. “Everybody wants to know what the best flavor is, but everybody likes something different, so that’s why we have 12 flavors.”
Sogo Snacks come in 12 fantastic flavors!
• BBQ & Pineapple Pork
• Chimichurri Beef
• Chimichurri Turkey
• Iowa Smoked Garlic Beef
• Iowa Smoked Jalapeño Beef
• Iowa Smoked Original Beef
• Jalapeño Turkey
• Jalapeño Beef
• Original Beef
• Savory Turkey
• Smokey Sweet Beef
• Spicy Southwest Beef
Customer and Community Connections
The secret to their success is their dedication to customer interaction. The customer service number for Sogo Snacks is Bellrichard’s personal cell phone number, though he fields very few complaints. “It seems like people reach out to us with positive feedback more than anything else,” he says.
Is it any wonder that customers are satisfied when a core tenet of Sogo Snacks’ business is the golden rule? “It’s about doing right by people, you know? It's not just about making money; it's about building relationships, communicating clearly and offering quality products,” says Bellrichard. “It’s really important to connect with customers who like what you’re producing and what you stand for.”
All Sogo Snacks are free from:
• Hormones and antibiotics
• Nitrates and nitrites
• Artificial ingredients
• Gluten, soy, dairy, nuts and msg
Sogo Snacks are carried in independent grocery stores across the country, sold through third-party vendors, and available on the Sogo Snacks website — but their biggest wholesaler account is the local food co-op. “The community has been incredibly supportive, and that's one of the nice things about living in a small town,” says Bellrichard.
To give back to the community that’s given them so much, Sogo Snacks sponsors community events, supports high school arts and athletics, and donates to local food pantries. “That's a big way we give back to the community. We get requests from all over the country from food banks, but there's enough need in our area, so that’s where we’ve chosen to focus.”
A focus on community is something Decorah and Mali share — a coincidence that’s not lost on Bellrichard. He says, “When I was in the Peace Corps, I was in a small village with no running water or electricity, and I didn't speak the language. Everyone in the village took care of me, even though I was there to help them. It was a humbling, eye-opening experience. To see what could be accomplished with so few resources by having a strong community — I wanted that when I came back to the U.S. Decorah has embraced us in that regard, and we're just really grateful to be here.”
June is National Turkey Lover's Month!
What’s not to love about Sogo Snacks’ natural turkey sticks?
• Free-range turkey from a third-generation family farm
• Hickory wood smoked and minimally processed
• Full of protein and free from added sugar
• Available in Savory, Chimichurri and Jalapeno
“Our Savory Turkey sticks taste like Thanksgiving — you have your turkey and stuffing all in one bite.” — Dan Bellrichard
Use the coupon code SAVE15 for 15% off a purchase at, www.sogosnacks.com
Photos courtesy of Sogo Snacks.