SACO — A lot of places in Montana claim to have the best bacon in the state. But the Saco Pay-N-Save bolsters its case with the awards and sales to prove it.
Tucked along Montana’s Hi-Line, the Saco Pay-N-Save has become a small-town grocery store with a big-time reputation.
“The Saco Pay-N-Save is just a small-town grocery store located in beautiful Saco, Montana on the Hi-Line,” co-owner Mark Snodgrass said. “We have a lot of your normal grocery store fare, but we also have a very robust meat market.”
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That meat counter includes custom-cut beef, pork and lamb — plus a long list of homemade specialties.
“We make our own specialty meats — bacon, snack sticks, summer sausage, brats, baloney — all that kind of stuff,” Snodgrass said.
Word of mouth has carried the Saco Pay-N-Save far beyond Phillips County.
“Travelers along the Hi-Line stop in and grab some bacon or snack sticks, and next thing you know their family members want it too,” Snodgrass said. “I’ve had calls from all over the country asking if we ship. Unfortunately we don’t right now, it would just be too expensive.”
The shop’s growing fame may have something to do with its wide variety of flavors — about 25 different kinds of bacon, by Snodgrass’s count.
The shop annually collects awards from the Montana Meat Processor’s Association including “Best in Show” for cured meet at the annual convention in 2025. The walls at the shop are lined with awards and trophies from decades of quality products.
“They go from mild regular bacon to cottage bacon, Canadian bacon, even beef bacon,” he said. “We have spicy bacon, sweet bacon, sour bacon — all kinds of different flavors.”
For customers like Ken Taylor of Glasgow who spoke with MTN while shopping, it’s worth the stop — and the cooler space.
“If it’s open and we’re passing through, we usually stop by,” Taylor said. “The meat is very good. We love the different varieties of bacon and their snack sticks — good stuff.”
Taylor said the products have become road-trip staples.
“My daughter was going to visit some friends in Washington and they asked her to pick up some bacon to bring to Washington,” he said.
Snodgrass ís a new owner. His girlfriend Melissa Plouffe is the daughter of longtime proprietor Robert Plouffe.
Mark and Melissa, along with buthcher Chanyng Stevenson purchased the business in the spring.
And though they’re making a few business changes, they won’t make any changes to their flagship products.
“Everywhere I go, if somebody finds out that I’m from Saco, Montana, they ask me, ‘Do you know about the Saco bacon?’ I’m very proud of our product,” he said. “We will not be changing the recipes and we will not be changing the bacon or the snack sticks.”
On busy weekends, Snodgrass said, the store nearly sells out. Shoppers often arrive with empty boxes and coolers, ready to stock up.
Among the favorites: sweet bourbon bacon, habanero snack sticks, and the original house-cured cuts that started it all.
“It’s not out of the ordinary — people coming in with coolers, people coming in with boxes — so they can carry the bacon out,” Snodgrass said.
