Our Heritage: The Beginning to the 70's

Texas & Louisiana Foodservice Distributor and Restaurant Supply

 

For over 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.

1946 Door-to-Door

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 called him "Jake." 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. Undeterred, Jake pressed on and sales began to pick up. 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.

1965 A Decisive Year

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 most of his business and realized that he needed to be more diversified. That's 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.

1972 to 1976 More Growth and a New Location

Jake's business had really grown, and he moved to 939 West 18th Street in Houston, in the spring of 1972. Jake knew his customers were looking for him to serve more of their growing needs. So, in May of 1976, Jake bought Corona Foods, which handled dry groceries and paper goods. Jake's had now become a full-line foodservice distributor.

1978 Joining the CODE Group and More Growth

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 Finer Foods sells more than 1 MILLION eggs every week!