NEW ALBANY, Ohio – Americans’ palates have spoken — sausage links won Bob Evans Restaurant’s battle for the breakfast plate over sausage patties. The 2016 Sausage Selection Election, created by Bob Evans Restaurants, encouraged consumers to vote for their favorite sausage form — links or patties.
The company launched the campaign in September, which will culminate in a coupon offering that entitles customers to a free side of sausage starting Oct. 19 at any Bob Evans restaurant.
“Links carried the day in the Sausage Selection Election nationally this year but that can always change. By 2020, we might see a swing toward patties,” John Fisher, president of Bob Evans Restaurants, said in a statement. “Bob Evans is about sausage, be it links, patties, or even turkey. We know that America loves sausage of all kinds. That love can build bridges and create a more unified country.”
The company’s national survey revealed that 30 states chose sausage links as the best breakfast sausage, while only 18 states — mostly in the Midwest and South — picked patties.
The survey also found that a clear majority of women chose links (59 percent) compared to patties (41 percent). But the preference for links was much less among men with 52 percent preferring links compared with 48 percent choosing patties.
Links are the sausage choice for Millennials and Gen X at 59 percent and 57 percent, while patties were popular among Baby Boomers and Greatest Generation with 51 percent and 52 percent, respectively.
Also, Democrats preferred links by a slightly higher margin than Republicans at 57 percent and 53 percent, respectively. Patties captured 62 percent of the Libertarian vote.
