To our customers and the partnerships we have formed over the past 60 years, for your support and confidence in Jake's to meet your needs. Thank you,

For 60 years, Jake's Finer Foods has been serving the greater Houston area with a commitment to service and quality. As we celebrate this milestone in our business, we'd like to share the story of how a young man's dream became a reality.

On May 1946, a young man came to Houston with a brand new idea. Originally from Carmine, Texas, and fresh out of the Army, he was ready to make his mark on Texas. His idea was to sell eggs door to door. His name is Kervin E. Jacob, and all his friends call him "Jake."

Kervin "Jake" Jacob with one of his first egg delivery trucks in the 1950's. Dreams really can come true when your values included commitment, service, and a good day's work!

Going door to door, his new idea got off to a pretty slow start; Jake sold a grand total of 11 dozen eggs that first week. As time passed and grocery chains began to appear, Jake started selling his eggs to the grocery stores, too. Jake's business grew and prospered. In fact, Jake got to be one of the largest egg wholesalers in this part of Texas.

By the fall of 1965, Jake had most of his eggs in one basket — those big retail grocery chains. That's when IT happened! Jake lost his biggest customer and realized that he needed to be more diversified. That's also when Jake first realized the growing potential he could have in the foodservice business.

Jake knew he could supply the freshest eggs available to this new foodservice trade. So, with eggs as his calling card, Jake turned to selling breakfast meats like ham, bacon, and sausage to satisfy the needs of his new foodservice customers. A short time later, he was selling them shortening and oils. Before long, Jake made the first of several important acquisitions when he purchased the Bob White Egg Co. which also put him into the cheese and butter business.

Early Panel Van for delivering Jake's Eggs

Jake's business had really grown, and he moved to his present location in the Spring of 1972. Jake knew his customers were looking for him to serve more of their growing needs. In May 1976, Jake bought Corona Foods who handled dry groceries and paper goods. Jake's had now become a full-line foodservice distributor.

As Jake increased his inventory, he saw the need to join a distributor buying cooperative. Courted by them all, Jake joined the CODE Group in 1978 and gained access to over 10,000 CODE-label products. That same year, Jake tripled his dry warehouse space to handle his rapidly-growing inventory.

Jake's now has large state-of-the-art warehouses and freezers as well as the finest refrigerated trucks for local and long-distance customers.

The 1980's brought two more acquisitions; DMS Foods and ABC Wholesalers. As frozen food technology improved, Jake's moved toward those "center of the plate" items that are so important to the success of his customers. To meet these inventory needs, Jake tripled his freezer space with a new, state-of-the-art, quarter million cubic foot freezer.

The 1990's continued with an increasing commitment to servicing the needs of Jake's expanding customer base. Jake's acquired Southwest Traders, a yogurt and ice cream distributor, and is now the master distributor for Vienna Beef products. To further expand the level of service to customers, Jake's has added an Equipment and Supply Department, as well as a Design Department. Additionally, an international division, JFF International, has been formed to handle overseas export. The near future holds more physical plant expansion.

With all the growth and more on the horizon, Jake never forgot about the egg business. Today, Jake owns a farm back in his home town of Carmine, and he is involved in a family partnership which raises the chickens that lay all those eggs that made his business flourish. From that first 11 dozen eggs, Jake now sells more than 1.6 million eggs every week.

Jake's Finer Foods sells more than 1.6 million eggs every week!