Ben E. Keith Company Revenue and Competitors

Benjamin Ellington Keith (1882-1959) born in Fort Worth, Texas, was the son of pioneer parents. Originally hired as a truck driver, he became the first sales representative and junior partner of the then-named Harkrider-Morrison Company, which was founded on September 21, 1906. In 1918, Keith purchased controlling interest of this produce business and became president and general manager of the Harkrider-Keith-Cooke Company. Not until September 10, 1931 was the name of the company changed to Ben E. Keith Company. The produce business was extremely profitable in the winter months but sales were slow in the summer. Keith set out to find a solution to lagging summer sales. In 1928, he traveled to St. Louis and met with Adolphus Busch. By obtaining the distributorship for Anheuser-Busch products (except for beer since this was during prohibition, which was repealed in 1933), Keith solved the company's problem by complementing the seasonal produce deliveries. It was through Ben E. Keith's belief in his fellow man and his genuine concern for his employees that the Keith's employee relations program was established. Considered a pioneer in the field of employee relations, the Keith Company established pension and profit-sharing plans, becoming in 1943 one of the first companies in the country to provide these benefits for employees. Today, the Keith Company also provides its employees with comprehensive life, accident, and health insurance programs and access to a company credit union.