OSI Food Solutions started as a neighborhood butcher shop in Oak Park, Illinois by Otto Kolschowsky in 1909, today it is one of the world’s largest global supplier of not only value-added protein products but also vegetables and fruit. Over the decades, the company has established a strong reputation for providing some of the highest-quality meats in the region. Ranking as one of the largest privately held companies in the United States, and its products offer food-related organizations a business partner of unparalleled strength, responsiveness and global reputation.
Highlights in its history includes forming a partnerships to become the official supplier of ground beef patties with the first McDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955. The opening of its first meat plant in 1973, under the name Otto & Sons, to process a high volume of products. The plant included machines specially designed for shaping meat patties and a tunnel system for freezing products via liquid nitrogen. In 1990, partnerships were established with Alaska Milk Corporation and the General Million Corporation to form GenOSI, to process and ship foods within the Philippines. OSI Food Solutions expanded to India 1995 and China in Beijing in 2002. In 2011, they opened a new wing of their headquarters in Aurora, Illinois, under the name of Culinary Innovation Center.
OSI Food Solutions acquired the Tyson Foods plant in Chicago in 2017 and in April, 2019 acquired the Rose Packing Company, Inc. in Barrington, Ill., both of these companies have and will enhance OSI Food Solutions with new processing capabilities, additional capacity and an increased sales presence. Today, under the leadership of Chairman and CEO Sheldon Lavin, the company has over 20,000 employees worldwide, working at more than 65 facilities in 17 countries. Over the decades of transitions and growth, Lavin has been the driving force that has lead the company to embrace the latest technological innovations which has lead to sustainable food production. OSI Food Solutions has received a number of prestigious awards and praise for its achievements to increase its efficiency and decrease its environmental footprint; making sustainability one of its core values when making operational decisions. Click here to learn more