Dynamic Dozen No. 2: Banta Foods

A timeline on the wall of Banta Foods' sales center chronicles the company's life in Springfield, from its infancy in 1895 through more than a century of progress under four generations of family leadership.

Though the timeline stops in 2000, it by no means signals an end, but the beginning of a new era of growth.

Under the guidance of fourth-generation president Chuck Banta,Banta Foods cracked $100 million last fiscal year, an all-time company high. And the company's revenue growth has been consistent: nearly 30 percentyear to year, and 65 percent between 2001 and 2003.

"Historically, these have been exceptional growth years for us," Banta said.

After recording sales of $60.5 million in fiscal year 2001, $77.9 million in 2002 and $100 million in 2003, company officials look for fiscal year 2004 to close in June at $130 million. The company projects $150 million in sales for fiscal year 2005.

These are numbers Banta's ancestors, beginning with great-grandfather and company co-founder W.H. Jezzard, never dreamed of, Banta said. As recently as a quarter century ago, when his father Charles T. Banta was at the helm, $100 million was in the realm of fantasy.

"I don't think he had any visualization to what it is today from what it was 25 years ago," Banta said. "It was basically a small produce company."

Small produce turned into big business when Banta Foods began tapping the food service and restaurant chain markets, securing multi-unit deals with Applebee's and Panera Bread, Banta said. And now Banta is writing perhaps the greatest chapter in the company's rich history.

Banta said the Applebee's and Panera Bread contracts lead the company's evolution from a four-state distributor for independent restaurants to a 10-state distributor to chain restaurants capable of outfitting commercial kitchens from top to bottom. Banta Foods' expansion to a 10-state region is largely due to the 110 Applebee's restaurants and 60 soon to be 75 Panera Bread cafes served.

"Those are our two big chain accounts that take us out a long way from home," Banta said.

Although 60 percent of its business is in multi-unit chains, Banta Foods continues to cater to independent restaurants and has more than 1,500 accounts in all, Banta said. The warehouse on North Packer Road, full of 8,000 stock-keeping units, ships more than 120,000 product cases any given week. Everything from china, kitchen equipment, chemicals and paper items to dry and frozen grocery, dairy, meat, produce, poultry, seafood and coffee is sent from the Springfield warehouse.

To aid distribution, the company has looked to technology. Banta Foods accepts customer Internet orders, tracks truck travel via global positioning systems and equips salespeople with laptops to check inventory and transmit orders. The purchasing department uses computer programs to buy, track and forecast inventory, and Banta Foods personnel communicate with drivers via text messaging.

"Technology is something we embrace and put a lot of resources to," Banta said. "It's a significant number on our budget each year."

Banta said the company has spent nearly $500,000 in technology in recent years. The investment paid off in 2003 when Banta Foods was named Innovator of the Year by Institutional Distribution magazine. Another industry award came from the International Foodservice Distributors Association last fall for functionality and effectiveness of the company's Web site (www.bantafoods.com), designed by Springfield-based Absolutionz.

While Web sites, GPS and laptops are the future at Banta Foods, its beginnings were rather modest by today's standards with 20 employees in a 20,000-square-foot warehouse under the Grant Avenue viaduct at Wall Street. Known as Stewart Produce Co., the company was the vision of Banta's great-grandfather Jezzard and W.P. Stewart, great-grandfather of the late Payne Stewart.

More than 100 years later, Banta Foods employs 200 in 130,000 square feet of warehouse and office space and is looking to grow. A $6.5 million expansion is under way, adding 100,000 square feet "to keep up with the growth," Banta said.