1968
IBM Foods was born
Maurice Gettleman was the founder of IBM Foods who, at that time, ran a meat department at a series of Fedco Stores in California. He had a small production plant in Inglewood, which made sandwich trays and different culinary components for butcher shops. Due to the plant’s proximity to LAX, he worked with catering kitchens at the airport and made meals for the airlines, which was also how he began making entrees.
1978
IBM Foods became a prime manufacturer for large restaurant chains and airline
Ten years later, Maurice bought a small meat plant in Los Angeles to handle the needs of his growing Fedco meat business. He did portioned meat products such as deboned chicken for large restaurant chains and continued making airline meals.
1982-83
The start of contract manufacturing and packing of private-label for major supermarket chains and began meal lines for hospitals
Maurice took the liberty to enter the private-label and co-packing industry by working with national supermarket chains. This is the birth of frozen prepared meal in the history of Overhill Farms. In addition we expanded a meal lines for hospitals and demonstrated dietary food can also be delicious with abundance of nutrients.
1984
We expanded additional capabilities by moving into a 125,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Vernon, California
Business was great and keep expanding. As a result of Maurice entrepreneurship, he decided to move the meat plant to a larger location and began further processing meat and poultry items. We started batter-breading and fully-cooking a variety of proteins to food services. Our new processing concept was very well accepted by the QSR sector which helped improve productivity in the kitchen by serving orders quicker.
1985-95
Our new customers broaden the scope of our service in the food industry that branded us as a leader of frozen prepared food manufacturer on the West Coast
We supplied frozen entrees for new startups. Some of them became so large that we established a third plant in Vernon just to produce meals for them, and thus were able to gain expertise in the production of frozen meals. For a decade, we continue to thrive and expand with new business in the sectors of restaurant chains and CPG companies.
1995
Maurice had to make an important decision. This is a historical moment where IBM Foods was renamed to Overhill Farms
As business was growing strongly, Maurice wanted a name for his company to be more relevant to food. He had to make an important choice between the IBM and Overhill Farms, which was derived from a street that the meat operation was located on. Now you know which name won?
1998
Overhill Farms continued thriving its key relationship with major American food retailers
We began working with some of our largest customers today, which includes major American restaurants and fast food chains.
2000
We added extrusion capability for fresh pasta with our acquisition of Chicago Brothers
We acquired Chicago Brothers Pizzeria from the Schwan’s Food Company and two of their leased plants located in San Diego. This gave us the ability to manufacture fresh pasta.
2003
We took a big milestone by consolidating all facilities and moved into a 175,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art food manufacturing facility of frozen prepared foods, sauces and side-dishes
The facility became operational and specializes in the manufacture of not ready-to-eat meals. Due to the efficiency of our plants and the profitability of the food industry, there have been significant increases in sales.
2007
We launched the production of health-oriented foods for major brands and supplied large chain stores throughout the United States
We launched production lines of frozen meals for brands that focus on health-oriented foods with nutritious ingredients. We also began sales to large grocery store chains and discount-store retailers nationwide.
2013
We were acquired by Bellisio Foods, America’s third-largest frozen food chain
Overhill Farms became a subsidiary of Bellisio Foods. Currently, we serve as a leading co-manufacturing arm of frozen entrees and protein products for Bellisio.
2016
We became part of Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), one of the world’s leading food conglomerates
Bellisio Foods was acquired by Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF). CPF is the leading agro-industrial and food conglomerate in the Asia-Pacific region with a strong focus on nutrition.