FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.,
Aug. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --
This year R. L. Schreiber, Inc., provider of food bases and spices
to the foodservice industry, celebrates its fiftieth year in
business. The first twenty five years, from 1968 to 1993, were
driven by its founder, Raymond L.
Schreiber. Leadership transitioned to his children when Ray
passed away in 1993. Today, his kids remain at the helm along with
members of the third generation and non-family management.
Ray was the younger of two sons; his parents were Austrian and
Czechoslovakian immigrants. His father, Leo, was an artisan who
crafted leather gloves worn by European royalty, turned bookkeeper
after moving to the United States.
His mother, Mary, made fur garments for a Minneapolis company, and was an outstanding
cook and baker. With his pedigree of hard working artisans, passion
for excellent food, and solid history of work experience, Ray set
out on a mission.
When Raymond Schreiber moved his
wife Jane, five kids and a dog from Minnesota to Fort
Lauderdale in the summer of 1968 to start a food business,
it was a gigantic leap driven by vision, faith and courage. The
younger of his kids remember him selling the idea to them by saying
Florida is where Disney World was
being built. The older kids were familiar with the allure of Spring
Break, and Jane, his wife, knew she would enjoy the sunshine,
beaches and warm lifestyle change.
Vision, Faith and Courage
Ray wanted his own company where he could manifest his vision
for success by engaging his work ethic, experience, high quality
products and strong relationships with people. With a few careers
in his rear view that built more character and knowledge than
fortune, he was resilient in his hunger for success. His new
venture would allow him the opportunity to build a business on the
foundation of proven recipes, experience and values.
Ray was a man of great faith, and instilled that in his family.
He believed in his mission, the products, himself and God. This
faith was an essential ingredient in his plan, because it supported
the king sized portion of courage required to accomplish this
dream. His vision and personal faith kept him strong and focused;
his belief in the products and ability to connect with people
provided the enthusiasm to create awareness and desire in the
marketplace.
With the formulas in hand for exciting products, Ray began
making them in his small plant in an industrial area near the
Fort Lauderdale airport. He
passionately crafted the products in the morning, and personally
delivered them to local restaurants in the afternoon. His kids
helped on the weekends and after school, progressively playing
bigger and bigger roles in the business.
The initial product line was a modest selection of high quality
bases, one soup mix and one seasoning blend. The handcrafted
integrity of the products, along with Ray's enthusiastic and
vibrant presentation immediately roused excitement and loyalty of
chefs, and set the foundation for enduring values that remain
integral in the business today. In 1978, a full spice line was
added to the offerings, and the selection of culinary items
continued to grow.
The Company – Today and Tomorrow
Today, R. L. Schreiber, Inc. proudly offers over 1000 culinary
items that infuse vibrant flavor and convenience to thousands of
professional kitchens. The company is also known and appreciated
for its high standards in food safety protocol and great
quality.
The product line is primarily distributed through a network of
independent purveyors who engage a high-touch model with their
fully stocked trucks delivering immediate gratification to culinary
specialists. The distributor network thrives from coast to coast
with a network of over one hundred.
There are currently 130 employees between its new Fort Lauderdale headquarters and its
state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kentucky. In 2011 R. L. Schreiber, Inc. moved
its spice manufacturing to a brand new 125,000 square foot plant in
Lebanon, Kentucky. The
Kentucky facility offers increased
production capacity, enhanced R & D and Food Safety areas,
professional kitchen and a purveyor training center.
Additionally, the company moved its center of operations from
Pompano Beach, Florida back to
Fort Lauderdale in April of 2018.
This synchronistic move within the scope of the Fifty Year
Anniversary is auspicious and exciting. The shift into beautiful
new headquarters sets the stage for a vigorous launch into the next
fifty years.
The brand continues to flourish upon its original values of
Safety, Quality, Unity, Integrity, Profitable Growth and Service
Excellence. These standards have driven the family business's
culture from day one, and offer a solid foundation for the dynamic
growth that R. L. Schreiber, Inc. works toward every day. These
timeless values remain a viable base from which to nurture its
culture and growth, enhanced by technology and innovation going
forward.
In honor of the company's Fiftieth Year, the brand's identity
features a revitalized logo and enhanced focus on the company as
Purveyors of Fine Flavors. The enhancement symbolizes the
trademark's robust history, traditional values, as well as its
commitment to progressing into a new age with technological
advancements, compelling product lines and a new generation to
facilitate and manage growth.
Anne Schreiber explains, "One of
our biggest sources of pride is the fierce loyalty many of our
customers have for our products and service. You know you are doing
something right when people insist on your products, and have been
buying them for decades! It's a very good feeling. We appreciate
the business, and are very grateful for the opportunity to provide
that through our purveyors."
In its fiftieth year, R. L. Schreiber, Inc. has renewed its
sponsorship of the American Culinary Federation's (ACF) Student
Team Competition and Award. The ACF was established in 1929 and is
the largest professional culinary organization in North America with over 22,000 members in 230
chapters across the United States.
"The sponsorship is an exciting way to support young chefs, while
immersing in the heartbeat of the industry at these events," says
Tom Schreiber, Sr.
As R. L. Schreiber, Inc. looks at the next fifty years, it
honors and re-commits to the timeless strength of the values upon
which it was conceived and built. With great pride, satisfaction,
anticipation and gratitude, the R. L. Schreiber, Inc. family
celebrates its golden year anniversary. With continued vision,
faith and courage it embraces a commitment to innovate and respond
to the needs and offerings of a new generation in the marketplace
and in leadership as the family's third generation comes of age.
The mission is to nurture growth and relevance in the market, and
continue to be a vibrant player in the success stories of our
customers.
Katie Schreiber Peterson says,
"Gratitude holds a big place in our fifty year celebration, for our
parents, employees, purveyors, customers, suppliers and families.
It's a really big deal, a great accomplishment that we are very
grateful for and proud of. We plan to do it for the next fifty
years and beyond."
SOURCE R.L. Schreiber