Each month IFMA highlights the newest companies that make up our diverse membership community. This month we are featuring, Absolutdata, Alpha Baking, Lee Kum Kee and Server Products. You can read on to learn more about each of their organizations.
Since 2001, Absolutdata has connected data to business results for global brands. During this time they have amassed a powerful suite of AI-based products and advanced analytics services that give clients a competitive edge. They transform how the world makes decisions. By building AI-based scalable solutions, their clients compete at a higher level, and see the results in their top and bottom line.
AI, deep learning and new data architectures are re-writing what’s possible in the world of marketing, sales and analytics. This constant evolution lights Absolutdata’s passion and drives them to new innovations. The Absolutdata Decision Engineering Methodology™ is a proven, disciplined approach that changes the way companies leverage their data. This powerful philosophy has become part of the DNA at Absolutdata.
Alpha Baking Company, Inc. was established in 1979 with the acquisition of the Mary Ann Baking Company in Chicago. Founded in 1935, Mary Ann is best known for the ever-popular Chicago style poppy seed hot dog bun. In 1981, Alpha Baking purchased S. Rosen’s Baking Company, a Chicago staple and baker of Jewish hearth rye breads and variety rolls since 1909. Through the years, Alpha Baking has continued to grow with the acquisition of Kreamo Bakers in La Porte, Indiana in 1979, National Baking Company in Chicago, Illinois in 1997, Natural Ovens Bakery in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 2007, and recently in 2016 with the addition of a new sweet good facility in Chicago, and a new baking facility in Grand Rapids, MI.
Alpha Baking Company, Inc. has a long history of donating product, money, and time to local charities, including food banks across the Midwest. Perhaps their most visible donation was the promotion they ran for its S. Rosen’s brand’s 100 year anniversary. For one week that summer, each fresh S. Rosen’s hot dog bun sold generated a ten cent donation to five food banks serving Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. This highly successful promotion resulted in a lump sum donation of over $120,000 to help feed the Midwest’s hungry.
Lee Kum Kee was established in 1888 when its founder Mr. Lee Kum Sheung invented oyster sauce in Nanshui, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province of China. With a glorious history of over a hundred years, Lee Kum Kee has become an international household name as well as a symbol of quality and trust.
Substantiating the core values of “Pragmatism”, “Integrity”, “Constant Entrepreneurship”, “Si Li Ji Ren” (Considering Others’ Interests), “Benefitting the Community” and “Sharing Fruits of Success” in every aspect of its business operations, Lee Kum Kee has transcended over three centuries. Lee Kum Kee's headquarters is located in Hong Kong, China, with other production bases in Xinhui and Huangpu, China; Los Angeles, the United States and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In particular, the largest production base in Xinhui occupies 1.33 million square metres of land.
With the mission of “Promoting Chinese Cuisines Worldwide”, Lee Kum Kee provides over 200 choices of sauces and condiments to over 100 countries and regions worldwide.
Server Products Inc. saw its beginnings in the basement of an old flour mill in Menomonee Falls back in 1949. At that time Server saw that movie theater operators needed an easy and efficient way to melt and serve butter for their freshly popped popcorn. Server responded by designing the industry's first automatic butter warmer and dispenser. It succeeded in making hot buttered popcorn fast, easy, and profitable. The good word spread fast about this innovative product and its high standard of quality. Server quickly expanded its product line to meet the needs of its customers, never once abandoning the careful attention to quality that made that first butter dispenser successful.
Over the years Server has developed many innovative products for serving, dispensing, and merchandising a wide variety of food items. The revolutionary Server Express™ System opened a new era in the dispensing of condiments, sauces, and salad dressings. The company also designs, engineers, and fabricates hot topping dispensers, food and soup warmers, condiment dispensers, nacho cheese servers, butter warmers and more.
Their rapid growth has demanded many plant expansions over the years. And today, with over 120,000 square feet of operating space, they’re still growing.