The same process largely applies to the company's other products.

While it may not be pickle juice that runs in their veins, Jonathan and Timothy are the fourth generation of Foster brothers to make their livelihood in the meat packing industry.

In 1916, their great grandfather, David Foster, moved from Boston to Manchester, N.H., to open Fosters Meat, where he processed deli meats, hot dogs and other products. Since then, the family has thrived in the industry, though in different ways.

Competition from large conglomerates and contract issues with the U.S government, one of their largest customers, forced the family to sell the company in 1976. About the same time, a family friend pointed them to a promising opportunity in pickling.

The family of Silas Warren ''Red'' Smith, the auburn-haired founder of the company, was selling the pickling facility that it operated in Liberty City.

The Fosters bought the company and nearly lost it when the site was burned to the ground during the McDuffie riots in 1980.

''We lost everything in that fire. Those were the days before computers. We lost paper records and everything else,'' Stephen Foster said in a phone interview from New Hampshire. With his brother David, Stephen Foster continues to have a hand in the business from New Hampshire while his sons are learning the ropes.

For a few years, the business operated from a plant in Port Everglades and in St. Petersburg on the west coast. The company, which employs 26 people, moved to its current home in Davie in 1995. They built a new plant in Pinellas Park in 2001.

Consumers in South Florida are aware of the practical side of SW Red Smith product,which resist spoilage in the absence of refrigeration. The company saw a surge in sales during last year's hurricane season.

Complying with USDA regulations for all meat businesses, the Fosters recently hired a lab to test the shelf stability of their sausage by having a piece injected with listeria, a bacteria that sometimes grows in meat and dairy products and can be fatal to humans.

''After a particular amount of time soaking in our solution, it actually killed the listeria,'' Jonathan Foster said. ``It's the perfect hurricane food . . . depending on your taste.''

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