The OSI Group is a meat processing company founded in Illinois in 1909. Founded by German immigrant Otto Kolschowsky as a family meat market, the company has grown to become one of America’s largest privately owned companies. Today the OSI Group provides meat, dough and vegetable products for the retail and food service industries. It has over 20,000 employees working in there more than 65 facilities located in 17 countries North America, Eastern and Western Europe as well as the Asia-Pacific region.
Otto Kolschowsky expanded into the wholesale meat trade in 1917 and developed a reputation for offing the highest quality meats at fair prices. The company grew rapidly after agreeing to provide ground beef patties for the fledgling McDonald’s franchise beginning in 1955. After acquiring cryogenic food processing technology the company then called Otto & Sons opened a high-volume meat plant in 1973 in West Chicago. It also created Glenmark, a separate unit, to provide area restaurant with specialty meats and area supermarkets with processed meats. The company changed its name to OSI Industries in 1975 and continued to grow as McDonald’s continued to add new locations.
The company now operates its U.S. plants in Illinois, Iowa, Utah, California and California as OSI Industries. The company makes products like bacon, dough, meat patties, hot dogs, pizza, fish, poultry, pork and vegetable products. They also supply meat for western fast food chains like Pizza Hut, Papa John’s Pizza, Starbucks and Subway doing business in China. The OSI Group also produces private label brands and co-packs brand name items for a number of foodservice and retail customers and generates over $6.1 billion in revenue. According to Forbes that makes them the 58 largest private company in the world.
Over the years the OSI Group facilities have been singled out for awards for their environmental management as well as their management of safety and health risks. The company is now a premier global food supplier with unparalleled resources and reach. They boast extensive capabilities for custom food product development as well as the management of global food supply chain including sourcing, processing, distribution and delivery of custom food products to fit any operation and maximize opportunities.
The company is focused on the production of high-quality custom food products. The OSI Group also has the ability to support any company’s global presence and quickly respond to their changing needs with responsiveness and consistency.