Saturday, May 28, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: health products, Kettle foods, health news |
When Healy was 22, he branched out and started Golden Temple Natural Food Distributors in connection with the bakery. It was during a period when many natural food brands were being created. "I entered the industry at the beginning stage of a wave," said Healy. During that time, Healy gained a great deal of exposure to the natural food industry. He worked with charismatic founders and began to see and understand how they created and branded their products.
Healy stayed in distribution for five years. But by the late 1970s, he had a desire to create and manufacture brands of his own. In 1978, Healy started Kettle Foods in Salem, Oregon. He had learned a great deal during his time with Golden Temple, and combined this experience with his community oriented and family-style approach to business. He kept the company privately owned to do things his own philosophical way.
He started with no working capital in a beat up van, selling cheese and roasted nut and trail mixes to natural food stores along Interstate 5. "I had no master plan, but I knew that the priority for quality lifestyles and values would be growing into more mass markets as baby boomers matured," said Healy. "I wanted to develop products of natural integrity that could be flexible in both the natural food and mainstream markets."
His vision led to the development of Kettle™ brand Chips in 1982. At that time,
these were the only natural, hand cooked potato chips in the Western US, thus pioneering what now is a multi-million dollar segment in the potato chip industry. In keeping with Healy's vision to create quality in every aspect of the company, Kettle Foods used only premium Russet potatoes grown in the Pacific Northwest on small family-owned farms. The Russet's high natural sugars give Kettle™ brand Chips their distinctly darker color and fuller potato flavor.
In the fall of 1980, Kettle Foods began production of Almond Butter under the brand name Roaster Fresh®. Eventually, the line was expanded into Kettle™ brand Roaster Fresh®, which includes Cashew, Hazelnut, Sesame, and Sunflower Butters in addition to Almond.
Continued growth and expansion took place between 1984 and 1988 with the addition of new cooking and packaging equipment. Production capacities were increased to meet the expanding popularity of Kettle Foods' products, but commitment to quality never wavered.
In 1987, Healy and his son took a six week motorcycle sabbatical in Europe and researched European specialty food markets. What they found was a unique niche for their hand-cooked chips. Timothy Meyer, a native Oregonian living in London, became involved at this time helping to found Kettle Foods, Ltd. in Norwich in 1988. With his broad international business experience and strength in financial disciplines, Meyer's role quickly grew to that of Director and Principal in the overall Kettle Foods organization. In 1989, the UK began production of Kettle™ brand Chips. "We dreamed it and Kettle™ brand Chips quickly became a major hit," said Healy.
In the spring of 1992, a new building was completed in Salem to add much needed office space and to manufacture a new brand of premium tortilla chips. Kettle™ brand Tias were made from scratch using organically grown corn and a patented process of adding sprouted corn to1 the masa. An improved package design in early 1997 saw this brand evolve into the present Kettle™ brand Tortilla Chips.
In 1995, in response to demands for a truly great tasting low fat potato chip, Kettle Foods introduced Kettle™ brand Krisps Baked Potato Chips. Using an innovative cooking system in which whole Russet potatoes are twice baked, Kettle™ brand Krisps have redefined the baked chip category.
In the late 1990s, a long held dream of building a new headquarters facility in Salem began to take shape. Having seriously outgrown its capacity at its founding location, plans were undertaken to construct a custom built facility nearby, at a site along Salem's Mill Creek. Kettle Foods snack lines moved to the new headquarters in the fall of 1999, while the nut roasting operation remained at the original site. The new facility brought unity and efficiency to the production processes and expressed in its architecture Kettle Foods' commitment to handcrafting and premium quality.
From its inception, Kettle Foods has lived its values and portrayed them in its products. Healy continues as President and Board Member supporting Kettle Foods management in keeping the unique company culture and its values.
"I believe in a conscious evolution in our society, where people are consciously seeking to live a more qualified lifestyle," explained Healy. "I feel it's important to help people cultivate values that are about integrity, respect, honesty and love. I have found that the workplace is a great environment to demonstrate this."
Today, Kettle Foods is an international company with more than 650 employees, and manufacturing sites in Salem, Oregon, and Norwich, United Kingdom. Its products can be found in the United States, Canada, Japan, Guam, and Western Europe. The company's focus for the years to come is to continue the tradition of innovation and quality that have been the basis for its success over the years.
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