The History of Schreiber Foods

SIXTEEN OUNCES TO THE POUND ------ The History of Schreiber Foods This book is dedicated to the past, present andfuture partners ofSchreiber Foods. Copyright© 2003 by Schreiber Foods Inc. All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any farm or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writingfrom the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote a briefpassage in review. First Edition ISBN 1-882771-07-9 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2003112442 Produced by The History Factory 14140 Parke Long Court Chantilly, Va. 20151 www.historyfactory.com Published by Schreiber Foods Inc. 425 Pine Street P. 0. Box 19010 Green Bay, Wis. 54307-9010 www.schreiberfoods.com CONTENTS Preface XI Part One: Origins 1 A Slice of History- The Story of" 16 Ounces to the Pound" 2 Wisconsin- T he Cheese Capital of America 3 Early Industry Leaders 4 Founding Schreiber Foods 11 Part Two: For the Record- An Overview of the Schreiber Experience 13 Building a Business Based on Values 14 Tests of W ill 23 The Challenge of Growth 33 Taking Schreiber to the Next Level 39 Finding New Ways to Grow 48 Schreiber in the New Millennium 57 Part Three: Recipe for Success 67 T he Journey Continues 68 Epilogue 77 Part Four: Timeline 79 Part Five: People and Places 87 "We wanted quality that would permit us to keep our self- respect, and we wanted to guarantee to every customer that he need never keep one pound of Schreiber cheese that he didn't want. Now that was a hell of an order, because there were some unscrupulous buyers. So it cost us some money. But remember, this was something revolutionary. Nobody in the cheese business had that guarantee." Merlin G. "Mer" Bush Schreiber Founder I l hen we began this book project, we forward thinking; farmers don't expect the immediate thought we'd capture and package what rewards that come from isolated victories and one-time W has made Schreiber the world's largest "killer" ideas. Survival and success come from what is private-label cheese company. But then we thought: repeatable, and hence subject to improvement. People of How do you take a history of honesty and integrity, the soil also have a natural humility, drawn from an under adherence to quality, personal accountability, creative standing of what is controllable, and what isn't. A farmer use of technology, and the belief in people working can't plan on a freeze, drought or fluctuations in the together, and put it in a neat little bundle? dairy markets, bur he can keep his cows healthy and his machinery in top shape. In other words, he masters what Well, you don't. And if Barney Schreiber and Mer Bush he can and looks for unexpected opportunities to excel. were alive today, they'd be less than satisfied if we didn't try harder. Instead, you tell stories with facts and Schreiber is made of these same ingredients. anecdotes, triumphs and failures; stories that help us understand how our business became what it is today. Much of our culture can be understood by the remarks In the process, yo u include guideposts that illustrate made by Mer Bush more than 25 years ago, when important concepts about our culture that you can hang he told the story of" l6 ounces to the pound." your hat on, and incorporate into your work. He said, 'Tm always suspicious if somebody tells you how honest he is. We decided to AB Schreiber has grown, our customers-supermarket build, and are still building, an image for chains, wholesalers and distributors, military commis reliability ... never making a promise that we saries, club and warehouse stores, drug and dollar stores, cannot keep .... I may have started it, but, restaurants, schools and colleges, hotels, and health and after the first few months, other people kept entertainment venues-have trusted us like they would that image going and improved on it." the handshake of a best friend. Those "other people" are you, Schreiber partners-the That's because, to use an old farm expression, we are source of innovation and continuous improvement, "people of the soil." process excellence, tenacity, hard work and ownership that ensure our lasting success. You are continuing to In the dairy business of the Upper Midwest, where make Schreiber a leader in the 21 sr century. Schreiber was born, yo u're never very far from the soil. Hard work, personal restraint and accountability, hands Larry Ferguson on practicality, and teamwork are part of getting up in President and ChiefExecutive Officer the morning. People close to the soil value patience and Schreiber Foods -XJ- INNOVATION LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT ORIGINS "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." Vince Lombardi Former Green Bay Packers Head Coach - 1- A Slice ofHistory- a company that was based on honesty. That in itself The Story of "16 Ounces to the Pound" was a novelty. " hen L.D. "Barney" Schreiber asked To be known as honest and trustworthy could give Merlin G. "Mer" Bush to run the cheese Schreiber a competitive edge in creating relationships W division ofL.D. Schreiber and Company with customers. But keeping promises was more than in 1945, Bush had strong ideas about how a cheese sound business prac- business should operate. He believed that his convictions tice. For Mer Bush, could distinguish Schreiber from other process cheese it was personal con companies. But his ideas were untested, and there were viction. As he came no other cheese companies running their organizations to find out, it was under the model he was about to propose. In a business an ethic in which based on thin margins, any mistake could mean the Barney Schreiber also end of the company. believed. In fact, when Bush presented his Bush journeyed to Chicago to meet with Barney "demand" to run the Schreiber. With a sense of urgency, he set forth a num business with strict ber of conditions, beginning with one simple notion: honesty and integrity, A pound of cheese would weigh one pound. Schreiber said, "Did you ever know me to While there were exceptions, much of the dairy and do anything else?" cheese business in the first half of the century was not known for its integrity. Regulatory oversight was Over the following minimal, which meant milk was often watered and years, the company's scales customarily weighed high. A lot of money was promise went well With its ideal agricultural conditions, Wisconsin quickly became synonymous with America 's made with pencils, through doctored manifests and beyond a pound finest dairy products . This photo was taken atthe bills of lading. weighing a pound. time of Schreiber's creation in 1945. As Dr. Vincent L. Mer Bush couldn't stomach such practices. As his son "Vince" Zehren, another of Schreiber's early leaders, Robert G. "Bob" Bush later remarked, "My father once commented, "You co uld always rely on the word talked about honesty every day of my life. And of Schreiber. [We] used to make big deals with a hand Schreiber Cheese Company was a chance to create shake. There were no lengthy contracts .. because it - 2- was not necessary. If Schreiber said that they were going to do something, you could be ass ured rhar it would happen. " Today, Schreiber still uses" 16 ounces to the pound" as shorthand for two cornerstones of its character: unquestionable integrity and an ongoing commitment to quality. Schreiber has come a long way from its modest begin nings, bur honesty and integrity are values the company will never leave behind. To understand where Schreiber is going, let's first look at where it's been. Since the first trader set up his posts in 1655, Green Bay, Wis ., has been a crossroads for industry, culture and American expansion . This 1867 map Wisconsin-The Cheese Capital ofAmerica shows the growing city around the time of the introduction of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad . merica's first cheese factory was built in Oneida County, N.Y., in 1851 , and upstate teenager in summertime, co nnecting nothing to noth A New York dominated the country's early dairy ing. That's because the Badger State owes its road sys commerce. About that time, immigrants to America tem to the peculiar evolution of what would become were creating their own cheese-making tradition in the the state's vast dairy business. farmlands of W isconsin. The state's cool temperatures; abundant water, corn and grass; and large number of The typical dairy farm was small-perhaps 25 head of dairy-wise northern European settlers soon enabled cattle-yet what these farms lacked in size they made Wisconsin to overtake New York as the country's up in numbers. By the late 1860s, W isconsin's 245,000 largest dairy producer. dairy cows provided enough milk to enable local manu fac turers to turn out 3 million pounds of cheese a year, One of the most remarkable features of the Wisconsin a figure that would quadruple over the next 10 years. landscape is its idiosyncratic secondary road system. By 1945, the year Schreiber was fo unded, Wisconsin Rural areas everywhere in America have winding back was producing a phenomenal 515 million pounds of roads, but Wisconsin's often seem as aimless as a cheese an nually. - 3- Early Industry Leaders he natural cheese made in and sold from early factories resembled large, chick wheels.

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