Blog

Herrig Honored as 2025 Honorary Master Pork Producer

WALL LAKE, IOWA – The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) is proud to announce
Speed Herrig as a 2025 Honorary Master Pork Producer. This award is given to
individuals who, through their work, have had a profound impact on the pork industry.
The winners embody the diversity of Iowa’s pig farms and the dedicated individuals who
support pork producers.

Speed Herrig of Wall Lake, Iowa, has spent a lifetime turning good food and good
humor into powerful promotion for pork producers. Raised on the century farm where he
still lives and works, Speed’s story began with chores and hand pitching hog manure,
lessons that built his work ethic and his lifelong respect for the families who raise pigs.
Today, that same farm is home to his automotive repair shop and close to the
headquarters of Cookies Food Products, a barbecue brand that has helped put Iowa
pork on plates across the country.

Speed grew up learning the value of work and resourcefulness. After high school, he
worked construction, then walked into a recruiter’s office intending to join the Marines
and came out as a Navy aircraft mechanic instead. When his service ended, he came
home and opened an automotive repair shop on the farm while raising his three kids
alongside his late wife, Judy.

What began in 50-gallon kettles at three in the morning has grown into a 120,000-
square-foot facility cooking in 500-gallon kettles, producing everything from single-serve
packets to 300-gallon totes, often destined for flavoring pork. From the beginning,
Speed tied Cookies Food Products directly to the pork industry. He worked with county
pork producer groups at grilling and promotions, partnered with the National Pork Board
and Tama County Pork at World Pork Expo, and spent years on media tours talking
about pork’s versatility and how to cook it right. The Cookies Food Products Rib Wagon
and smokers have rolled to grocery stores, county events, and racetracks from Mitchell,
South Dakota, to Kansas City, Charlotte, Daytona, and Iowa Speedway. Speed has
cooked well over 100,000 racks of ribs and more than 100,000 pounds of pulled pork,
always with pork front and center.

Speed shows consumers how to enjoy pork at the proper temperature and in many
forms, from stuffed loins and stir-fry to ribs and pulled pork. He champions boneless
loins as one of the best protein buys in the meat case and shares recipes, tips, and
Cookies Food Products flavor enhancer with anyone who asks. He loves nothing more
than seeing someone’s face light up when they taste juicy, properly cooked pork after
years of overcooking it.

Speed’s impact stretches far beyond the grill. He has built Cookies Food Products into a
long-standing rural employer, with many team members staying 20 to 40 years. Both
Speed and Cookies Food Products have long been committed to giving back. Through
the Iowa Barbecue Society, he helped secure a proclamation naming October as Senior
Barbecue Month, then backed it up by taking pulled pork to local nursing homes and
senior meal sites so older neighbors could enjoy a special pork meal.

You can watch his story by visiting the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s YouTubepage.