Ben E. Keith Timeline
Take a stroll back in time. Learn how Ben E. Keith started as a potato and onion distributor and built a company that today services thousands of customers from six divisions.
1906
Harkrider-Morrison Company was a produce company in Fort Worth, TX that delivered to local grocery stores and restaurant owners. The deliveries were made by horse and buggy and orders were taken on “Big Chief” tablets.
Ben E. Keith was the first salesman and junior partner. Through his continual contributions to the company as well as to his community, he was able to steer the company from its humble beginnings into the present position as one of the major produce and beer distributors in the country.
1907
The first branch was established in Wichita Falls, Texas and operated originally under the name of Wichita Produce Company. The warehouse was managed for several years by Ben’s older brother George D. Keith Sr., and later by George D. Keith Jr.
1911
One of the partners, R.E. Morrison withdrew from the company, and the name was changed to Harkrider-Keith-Cooke Company to reflect Ben’s growing role in the management of the fledging company. The success of the little produce firm made it possible to open a second house in Fort Worth in 1912.The second warehouse opened under the name Merchant’s Fruit Company, and was managed by Charles V. Nichols, one of the earliest distributors of strawberries.
1917
Another of the partners, W. Steve Cooke, withdrew from the company to become a co-founder in a Dodge dealership in Fort Worth and one year later C. E. Harkrider withdrew from the company.
1918
At the age of 36, Ben E. Keith purchased controlling interest of the Harkrider-Keith-Cooke Company and became President and General Manager.
1919 - 1920
In the early 1920’s the company expanded its operation by purchasing two Dallas produce houses; one of which, The Harry Harlan Produce Company, was used as the temporary Dallas Headquarters. A third warehouse was established in Abilene to serve West Texas.
1922
A.A. Jackson Produce was purchased and the building stables were renovated to make room for delivery trucks. The company operated out of this Pearl Street location until a new Dallas warehouse was built 50 years later in 1972.
1924
A young man named Gaston Hallam joined the company after two years at Austin College. He was originally hired to unload boxcars at the Fort Worth warehouse and a year later was promoted to bookkeeper in the Dallas office.
He recalled unloading the boxcars of fruit and vegetables from dawn until dusk, picking up crates of lettuce weighing seventy pounds. “Twenty pounds of that was ice”, he said. “It took good strong men to work the produce business”.
1925
Progress enabled the thriving produce company to open an office in Lubbock, Texas to further serve the vast West Texas and New Mexico area. Gaston Hallam was transferred to the new office to serve as Assistant Manager.
1926
The Mexia Fruit and Vegetable Company was purchased and Gaston Hallam was again transferred to manager the office. He was later transferred to manage the Corsicana Fruit and Vegetable Company when it was purchased.
1928
Although the produce business was extremely profitable during the winter months; however, sales were slow in the summer. This was due to many people growing their own gardens during the hot summer months and as a result made fewer purchases. In addition, the farmers would often sell their own harvests directly to growers.
This presented quite a problem to the company, and Ben E. Keith set out to find a solution. He met with Adolphus Busch in St. Louis. From this meeting the company became an independent distributor of Anheuser-Busch products.
Since this was during the Prohibition, the major product was ice cream syrup, which came in several flavors. The company also distributed Anheuser-Busch’s baker’s yeast, starch, dextrine (cattle feed made from spunt grain), and ginger ale. Among the more popular products were Bevo, a beer substitute or “near-beer”, and Anheuser-Busch malt syrup. This helped to turn the company around during the summer months when produce sales were down.
1929
Robert D. Erwin joined the company as branch manager of the Lubbock office, steered it through the Depression, and managed to maintain a steady and profitable business. When the rest of the world suffered the hardships inflicted by the stock market crash, the Lubbock office continued to operate at a profit.
Gift baskets were also introduced during this time and the first catalog offered various combinations of fruits, but specialized in Texas Grapefruits. Since there were no cardboard boxes and cellophane wrappers in the early days, packaging had to be very imaginative. Sturdy wooden boxes and colorful Mexican wicker baskets with lids were used to show off a delicious array of fruits.
1931
Hardriker-Keith-Cooke Company formally changed its name to Ben E. Keith Company.
1933
Prohibition ended, and since Ben E. Keith was in the produce business, they already had their refrigerated storage coolers and delivery trucks, which was a key to becoming a beverage distributor. Draught beer was not pasteurized so it had to be kept cold (under forty degrees) or it would spoil. The company opened warehouses in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Mineral Wells and the company’s first beer order from Anheuser Busch totaled 57 railcars.
1940
The third addition in the company’s expanding product line came in the 1940’s with the advent of frozen foods, which had been available on an institutional basis long before they came to the consumer market after World War II.The company was careful to select only top quality brands to distribute to its customers, and became one of the first distributors of Birdseye products in Texas.
1941
The company needed a way to connect with households about our fresh produce in grocery stores, so the FRESH FROM KEITH’S slogan was created by Mr. Keith’s assistant, Trula House. This successfully accomplished institutional advertising of fresh fruits and vegetables. The slogan was posted on everything from Ben E. Keith trucks to store posters to packages of produce. This slogan is still used today.
1943
Because of Ben E. Keith’s belief in his fellow man and his genuine concern for his employees, an employee relations program was established and Ben E. Keith Company became one of the first to establish pension and profit-sharing plans.
1959
Upon the death of Ben E. Keith, on August 17, 1959, R.D. “Buddy” Erwin succeeded him as president and later chairman of the board and Gaston Hallam, a major stockholder and the longest tenured employee, continued to oversee the beverage operations.
Both Erwin and Hallam were dedicated to the success and prosperity of the Ben E. Keith Company. This was evident in the fact that during this time both the beverage and produce operations prospered under their leadership.
1962
Technology was advancing and during this time the first electric fork-lift was purchased along with gravity controlled conveyor belts, to help simplify our operations.
1965
Buddy retired in April of 1965 and announced the promotion of Gaston Hallam to CEO.
1966
The Knighton Produce Company in Shreveport, Louisiana was purchased. The Panhandle Fruit Company was also purchased and later became the Amarillo Distribution Center.
1968
Purchased Panhandle Fruit Company in Amarillo, Texas.
1972
Even with Vietnam, rampant inflation, price controls and high fuel prices we chose to embrace change. A new computer system was installed to modernize our accounting and generate individual sales records and inventory reports.
The Dillaha Food Company located in Little Rock, Arkansas was purchased and became the Little Rock Distribution Center.
1979
Upon his retirement after 50 years of service, Gaston Hallam left the company in the hands of his two capable sons. Robert Hallam became Chairman and CEO, while Howard Hallam became President and COO.
These two young men grew up with Ben E. Keith. They not only worked holidays and summer vacations, loading beer and produce trucks, making deliveries, handling sales calls, and developing management skills, they both attended the University of Texas at Austin earning law degrees.
With Gaston’s retirement as President of Ben E. Keith Company, the leadership reins for food operations were passed on to John Beauchamp, who became Vice Chairman of the Board.
Beauchamp had been hired by Erwin to operate the branch in Longview and after turning their lagging sales into profits; he was transferred to Dallas where he succeeded again at turning sales and profits around. After that he was once more transferred to the Fort Worth office to perform the same tasks. While in Fort Worth he ascended to the office of General Manager of the Produce Operations where he remained until he became President of Ben E. Keith Foods until his retirement in 1982.
1980
During the 1980’s, Ben E. Keith Company began to reinvent itself, transitioning from a retail produce distributor to a “broad line” foodservice distributor. They streamlined food operations, developed new inventory lines and devised special marketing programs.
1981
Ben E. Keith Foods reached over $100 million in sales.
1983
The Johnston Fruit Company in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was purchased and became the Oklahoma Distribution Center.
1985
Ben E. Keith Foods purchased two more companies, Monroe Frozen Foods in Shreveport, Louisiana and CMD Produce in Little Rock, Arkansas.
1987
Ben E. Keith Company purchased Mid-South Seafood in Little Rock, Arkansas.
1989
Ben E. Keith received the very prestigious Great Distributor Organization Award from ID Magazine. The company was becoming an industry leader in technology advancements in all aspects of operations.
1990
Over the years, the company’s leadership continued to make wise investments. The Kassner Distributing in San Antonio, Texas was purchased and became the San Antonio Distribution Center.
But this was also a year of great loss with the passing of Gaston Hallam in April of 1990. Yet, through the leadership of Robert and Howard Hallam we have maintained that genuine concern and respect for our employees, our customers and our community.
1991
Ben E. Keith purchased the ABC Distributing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which became the Albuquerque Distribution Center.
1993
Ben E. Keith Foods reached over $250 million in sales.
1998
The Ben E. Keith Company was becoming more and more technologically advanced, computers had taken over many aspects of the company and we began to integrate more technology into our warehouses.
One of the leading supporters of the technology had come to us many years before; Mike Roach became President of Ben E. Keith Foods in 1998 and Executive Vice President of Ben E. Keith Company and has remained diligent in improving the company.
2000
The company continued to grow and develop into the profitable company we are to this day. In 2000, Ben E. Keith Food sales reached over $600 million. During this time the Dallas and Fort Worth Offices combined and moved into the new DFW Distribution Center built in south Fort Worth.
2004
As a company we continue to raise the bar in regards to expectations and in June of 2004, marking the end of our fiscal year, Ben E. Keith Foods reached over $1 billion in sales.
2005
The company’s presence in Kansas strengthened when the F & E Foodservice of Wichita, Kansas was purchased and now services customers in the Kansas market from a combined effort of our Amarillo and Oklahoma Distribution Centers.
2006
Growth and Expansion were the buzz words in 2006. We opened state-of-the-art facilities in Oklahoma and in Amarillo. Both divisions now service customers from more than 300,000 square feet with room to still grow.
Today
Although the company has received many awards over the past century, the best award achieved has been the milestone of reaching 100 years in business. Successfully partnering with suppliers and employees to service wonderful customers and helping their businesses to grow and succeed.
Ben E. Keith Foods is now the eighth largest broad-line distributor in the nation, with six distribution centers serving South Central USA - Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, and Missouri.
“More than just a birthday, this first 100 years has given us an incredible foundation on which to grow our business and service our customers to the highest degree possible,” said Mike Roach. “With our record growth over the past several years, we have shown that we can become a large and successful company by sticking close to our values and our customers.”
One hundred years of hard work, growth and success has gained Ben E. Keith much recognition. We look forward to serving our customers, our employees and our community for the next century.