The Next Steps
Given the opportunity to predict, what do people see on the horizon for Reser's Fine Foods as the company enters its second 50 years? Growth, growth, and more growth.
"We want to be a $500 million company by 2005 and we're on track to make it," Peter says.
"We're going to continue to grow through our own expansions and acquisitions and with the expansion of our product line," Marty observes. "The business environment changes continuously and we're doing a good job of changing with it. I expect us to be one of the best, largest refrigerated food manufacturers in the country."
"We will grow through continued growth of the product line, acquisitions, and that next new-whatever it may be-hot item we have to come up with," Mark says. "It may sound like a dreamer approach, but you have to find what's needed out there. In 1989, we didn't even think about refrigerated potatoes, but we were in them in 1993, and now they're a big part of our business. Delis have gotten very big, and the actual food service market has changed dramatically."
"We'll be the predominant salad company," Ron says. "No one else even comes close."
Al predicts sales of $500 million, maybe $600 million, in the next five years and continuing acquisitions. "We'll probably have to build more facilities to support that kind of growth," he adds.
Mildred and Earl Reser could not possibly have known the potato salad business they launched in their kitchen would grow to be the nation's biggest salad manufacturer with some 2,600 products sold in all 50 states as well as Canada, Mexico, and Guam.
The Resers would probably be shocked to see their name on huge over-the-road semis and even more shocked to see their name on the football stadium at Oregon State University. They wouldn't, however, be shocked at the company's commitment to high quality and to customer service. They wouldn't be shocked to hear that people still describe Reser's Fine Foods as a fun place to work. And they wouldn't be shocked to know their entrepreneurial spirit and the family environment they fostered are still essential parts of the business.
Fifty years later, the foundation Mildred and Earl laid is still solid, solid enough to support the next 50 years.
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