OSI Group is an American privately owned holding company of meat processors that service the retail and food service industries with international headquarters in Aurora, Illinois. It operates over 65 facilities in 17 countries.
History
Early history
In 1909, German immigrant Otto Kolschowsky opened a family meat market in Oak Park, Illinois two years after his arrival in the United States. In 1917, he expanded into the wholesale meat trade and relocated the business to nearby Maywood, another Chicago suburb. The company became known as Otto & Sons in 1928. Over several decades, Otto & Sons established a local reputation for offering quality meats. Harold and Gerry Kolschowsky, along with Sheldon Lavin, were influential in expanding the company to what it is today. In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois with Otto & Sons as the supplier of fresh ground beef patties. When Cryogenic food processing, a method of preserving fresh food through liquid nitrogen freezing, emerged in the late 1960s, Otto & Sons accepted Kroc's offer to become one of McDonald's four meat suppliers. Later, a fifth supplier was added. In 1973, Otto & Sons opened its first high-volume meat plant in West Chicago with specially developed patty-forming machines and liquid nitrogen freezing tunnels. At the same time, it formed a separate unit called Glenmark, for all non-McDonald's business. In 1975, the company changed its name to OSI Industries. Glenmark was later acquired by Best Chicago Meat Co. in 2011.
Expansion
In 1990, OSI partnered with General Milling Corporation and Alaska Milk Corporation to establish GenOSI, a Philippines food processing company. In 2002, OSI China was established in Beijing. In 1995, OSI entered the India market with the creation of its subsidiary, Vista Processed Foods. OSI acquired chicken company Moy Park in 1996. Moy Park was later sold to Marfrig Group in 2008. OSI acquired G W Padley Poultry and Dove Valley in 2004. In 2006, OSI acquired poultry processor Amick Farms. In 2009, OSI established Weihai Poultry Development Co. as a wholly owned subsidiary in China. In 2011, the company opened a Culinary Innovation Center at its headquarters in Aurora, Illinois. In 2013, OSI established DaOSI in collaboration with Doyoo Group. In July 2014, a factory of OSI Group in Shanghai, China was ordered to shut down production at that location by local government for allegedly selling expired meat to international fast food chains including McDonald's and KFC. In February 2016, following the return of an unfavorable verdict in the case against the company in the Jiading District People's Court in Shanghai, OSI said in a statement that "the court of jurisdiction has reached an unjust verdict" claiming that "general media clearly influenced the verdict." In 2016, OSI acquired the former Tyson Foods plant in Chicago for $7.4 million. OSI also acquired a controlling stake in the Dutch company Baho Food in August 2016. That December, OSI acquired Flagship Europe from the Flagship Food Group. In 2018, Flagship Europe was renamed Creative Foods Europe. The merger of Turi Foods Pty Ltd. and OSI International Foods in 2018 created Turosi Pty Ltd. In 2019, OSI acquired Chicago area meat company Rose Packing Company for an undisclosed amount.
Recognition
OSI Group facilities have received awards over the years, including awards for management of health and safety risks as well as environmental management. In 2011, Forbes listed it as America's 136th largest private company, based on annual revenues of $3 billion. In 2016, OSI was #58 on the Forbes list of largest private companies, at $6.1 billion. The company's rank slipped slightly to #63 on the Forbes list in 2018. Refrigerated & Frozen Foods magazine listed OSI Group as the sixth largest Meat/Poultry/Seafood processor in its Top 150 Frozen Foods Processors Report in March 2019. Whole Foods Market presented OSI with an award for Outstanding Innovation at the company's annual Supplier Awards ceremony in April 2019.
Operations
OSI operates its U.S. plants under the name OSI Industries, LLC. The U.S. plants are located in Chicago, Geneva and West Chicago in Illinois, as well as Oakland, Iowa, West Jordan, Utah, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and Riverside, California. The company produces many private label brand foods and co-packs major brand name items for its various Foodservice and Retail customers. OSI Group has more than 65 facilities in 17 countries around the world, located in North America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. OSI's products include meat patties, bacon, hot dogs, pizza, fish, pork, poultry, vegetable and dough products. OSI Group has also been a meat supplier to other western fast food chains in China, such as Subway, Starbucks, Papa John's Pizza, and Pizza Hut. Impossible Foods announced a co-manufacturing collaboration with OSI to produce the Impossible Burger in July 2019, providing IF with capacity to double its production in the near term, and quadruple it by the end of 2019.
