If you've ever bitten into a Fenway Frank at a Boston Red Sox game, you've had a taste of Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Kayem, a fourth-generation family-owned business, has been making hot dogs and sausages in the state's smallest city for more than 100 years. Fourth-generation president and CEO Matt Monkiewicz recently gave WBZ-TV a tour of their factory on Arlington Street.

"On Saturdays, we'd come to the plant with my dad. We'd play hide-and-seek among the pallets in the warehouse, and he was here every Saturday, so it was a big part of my life," Monkiewicz recalled.

How Kayem got its name

The Kayem story started in 1900, when his great-grandparents Helena and Kazimierz Monkiewicz, a butcher whose initials inspired the company's name, emigrated from Poland to Boston. The couple opened a shop in Chelsea on Broadway, sharing their handmade sausages and Polish heritage with neighbors.

Their recipes live on to this day. Seasoned meat is stuffed into casings, twisted into links, trimmed, steamed, smoked, and chilled in a brine bath, a meticulous process designed to create the perfect bite.

"My go-to is the natural casing frank, two-and-a-half-pound pork and beef natural casing. That is something that is just so reminiscent of my childhood and growing up. In fact, my dad used to cut those up on Saturday morning, fry them, and put them in scrambled eggs," Monkiewicz told WBZ.

Kayem's natural casing franks, a beef and pork frankfurter in a natural lamb casing, deliver that signature "snap" in every bite. It's one of many products Kayem makes in their Chelsea factory today, along with bacon, classic hot dogs, sausages, bologna, ham, pastrami, and corned beef.

Who makes the Fenway Frank?

The company can make up to one million hot dogs a day. That level of production is a must, Kayem is sold in grocery stores around the country. In 2009, they were named the official Fenway Frank. But that title wasn't handed to them.

"I had been chasing them for a couple of years, and they weren't even talking to me," recalled Monkiewicz. "I got some insider knowledge that the company they were working with was not going to renew the deal. It was coming up on the season, so I called them, I said, 'Hey, I'm hearing this. If you need somebody to step in, we'll work on a deal later. I'll just keep you supplied. We'll make sure product gets on the shelves and we'll keep it whole and we'll figure out what to do after.' And a week or two later, I got the phone call and we jumped right in."

From the factory to the second floor, upstairs feels like a family reunion, with Monkiewicz's brother, two sisters, and son all working in the office.

So, what's the key to keeping a business alive for more than 100 years?

"I think it's a testament to the people who have worked here and the family members who have led, had vision, and shown commitment to growing the business, putting their heart and soul into the place. Part of it is the obligation we have to the people who rely on this for their livelihood, and it's something we take really seriously. We have multi-generational families who have worked here over the years, so we're not the only Kayem family. There are Kayem families within the Kayem family," Monkiewicz said.

"Chelsea's an awesome city, great business community. Great people, a lot of people that want to work hard and follow their own version of the American dream, and we're fortunate to be able to be a part of it."