OSI Group

OSI Group started as a small family-owned meat market more than 100 years ago, before expanding to become a leading global food provider. OSI operates out of its headquarters in Aurora, Illinois with Sheldon Lavin as the CEO and Chairman. OSI is a partner with retailers and foodservice companies all over the world to bring high-quality foods to consumers. The group operates over 65 facilities spanning 18 countries, and produces meat products, vegetables, plant-based proteins and sauces. The company has a strong emphasis on sustainability and responsibility—focusing a lot of effort on improving its impact on the environment, establishing safe and healthy workplaces and conserving natural resources.

History

Otto Kolschowsky started  this company as a small butcher shop in 1909, in a suburb of Chicago. In 1917, he expanded into the wholesale meat trade, and six years later, in 1923, the company became known as Otto & Sons. This small family-owned butcher shop and meat market served the Chicago area with quality meats. McDonald’s chose to use Otto & Sons for its first official producer of ground beef in 1955. Otto & Sons then opened a processing plant dedicated to McDonald’s production in 1973.

Otto & Sons rebranded to OSI Industries in 1975. The company then opened plants throughout the globe for the next four decades.

Expansion

In 1977, OSI established another processing plant in Utah. This sparked a series of quick expansions, with OSI opening operations in Germany (1978), Spain (1980), Brazil (1982), Chicago (1986), Taiwan (1987), Austria (1989), Mexico (1990), the Philippines (1990), China (1991), Poland (1993) and Hungary (1993).

In 1994, OSI partnered with Nation Pizza and Foods. OSI acquired Vista Processed Foods in India in 1996, and then added Moy Park in the UK to produce poultry. OSI Group eventually sold Moy Park to Marfrig Group in 2008. In 1996, plants were added in Shanghai (China) and Oakland, Iowa (USA).

In 2002, OSI expanded in China to provide produce to McDonald’s by taking over an existing supplier. In 2005, OSI acquired another business to offer beef within Australia. The company then opened a poultry integration plant on the east coast of the United States by acquiring Amick Farms in 2006. In 2009, the group established the vertically-integrated chicken operation, Weihai Poultry, in Shandong Province, China.

In 2010, OSI opened a new beef production facility within Japan. In 2011, the company partnered with Sunner Corporation to create SunOSI in China’s Fujian Province. That same year, OSI also opened a Culinary Innovation Center in Aurora, Illinois (USA), and added along with a dry sausage production factory in West Jordan, Utah (USA). In 2012, two new locations were established near Punjab and Bangalore in India as part of Vista. During the same year, OSI built new operations within Geneva (Illinois, USA), Henan (China) and expanded its operations in Weihai (China). OSI then opened an LEED-certified beef processing facility in Ostróda (Poland) in 2013, as well as starting up MPO (Meat, Poultry & Other) Global Trade in Germany.

The company built another Culinary Innovation Center in China in 2014. They also built R&D locations in Shanghai (China) and Aurora (Illinois, USA). In 2016, a new production factory was established in Riverside (California, USA), a Regional Office was established in Gersthofen (Germany), controlling stake was bought in Baho Food (plants in Germany and the Netherlands) and OSI expanded with the purchase of a facility owned by Tyson in Chicago (Illinois, USA).

In 2018, OSI created Turosi Pty Ltd. by acquiring Turi Foods Pty Ltd. And integrating it with its other Australian operations. OSI then acquired Rose Packing Company in Chicago (Illinois, USA) to increase meat production capacities with the private company that employed over 700 people. In 2019, OSI also announced a major partnership with Impossible Foods™ (including the Impossible Burger) to co-manufacture plant-based protein products and meat-substitutes.

Leadership

Sheldon Lavin is owner, CEO and Chairman of OSI Group and there are a number of high-level division and facility leaders throughout the many plants all over the world that manage around 20,000 employees.

In 2017, Nicole Johnson-Hoffman was appointed Chief Sustainability Officer in addition to her role as Senior Vice President. OSI also hired Kathryn Hilson to become OSI Group’s Director of Quality Assurance in 2017 after her history in Regulatory Compliance at Tyson Foods, Meat Safety Frontline Supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Quality Supervisor at Jack Links.

Claire Donoghue is OSI Europe’s Operations Director and Head of Sustainability. She was recently named Board Chair of the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability (ERBS) in 2020 for a three-year position, to help guide farmers and producers in good practices for animal health, farm management, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Recognition

OSI Group has won a very large number of awards over the past 100 years. Recently, they were named to the Top 150 Frozen Foods Processors Report as #6 on the list from Refrigerated & Frozen Foods (The company was named Refrigerated Foods Processor of the Year in 2014 by that same organization).

In 2018, OSI was recognized with the British Safety Council’s International Safety Award and Globe of Honour Environmental Award (UK),  and an Eco-responsible in Business award (Poland). Multiple OSI facilities have earned North American Meat Institute (NAMI) Worker Safety Awards since 1995, and OSI has also received a total of nine Environmental Recognition Awards from NAMI since 2010.

Whole Foods selected OSI for an Outstanding Innovation Award in 2019. OSI also won the Sword of Honour (UK) for the sixth time in 2019, and earned the ANICE Sustainability and Environment Prize (Spain). In 2020, OSI (Oakland, Iowa, USA) has been honored with awards for being one of the Nebraska-area’s safest companies for 24 years by the local chapter of the National Safety Council. The North Lincolnshire Health and Safety Group bestowed honors upon OSI (UK) in 2020 with awards for accident prevention and outstanding health and safety achievements.

---