Oberto Sausage Company
| Private | |
| Industry | Food manufacturing |
| Founded | 1918 in Seattle, Washington |
| Founder | Constantino Oberto |
| Headquarters | Kent, Washington |
|
Key people
|
Tom Hernquist, President & CEO |
| Products | Beef jerky, bacon jerky, chicken strips, meat snacks, pork jerky, turkey jerky |
| Brands | Oberto, Lowerey's, Pacific Gold, Cattleman's Cut, Smokecraft |
| Website | http://www.oberto.com/ |
Oberto Brands is a family-owned business that makes meat snacks including all natural jerky, pepperoni and other smoked meats. The company was founded in 1918 by Constantino Oberto in Seattle, Washington. It is now headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company sells products under the Oberto, Oberto Classics, Lowrey's Meat Snacks, Pacific Gold Beef Jerky and Cattleman's Cut brands.
Constantino Oberto founded the Oberto Sausage Company making and selling hand-made Italian sausage in Seattle, Washington, in 1918. Using Italian family recipes, he began making salami, coppacola and other sausages. On Labor Day 1943, Oberto died leaving his company and its two employees to his family. Art Oberto, Constantino's 16-year old son, took over the company. He continued to run the company while completing his studies at West Seattle High School, resisting pressure to sell the business. By 1954, revenue had grown enough to begin construction on a new factory, completed the following year, with the help of a loan from the family of Oberto's new wife, Dorothy Vennetti.
Oberto Brands continued to grow through the 1960s with the production of its flagship beef jerky product and introduction of the product at Safeway stores in 1967. Safeway was the first national grocery chain to carry Oberto Brands jerky.
In 1990, Laura Oberto joined her father in a leadership role and became the co-chairman of the company. The following year, she took over as president of Oberto Brands. In 1994, Oberto Brands purchased Smoke Craft and Lowrey's meat snacks brands and facilities, both based in Albany, Oregon. The purchase added 200 employees to the company. In 1999, the company entered into a distribution partnership with the Frito-Lay company. In 2002, Oberto Brands purchased the Pacific Sun Industries which produced the Pacific Gold brand.
In 2009, after slow sales, Oberto Brands ended the distribution deal with Frito-Lay and began distributing its own products. Shortly after the agreement was terminated, Oberto Brands named Tom Ennis CEO and president. The company adjusted the recipes for its flagship jerky products in 2012, removing corn syrup, preservatives, dextrose, and other artificial ingredients.
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