Omaha Steaks: Focus on Fulfillment

“A step up” may be an understatement. During the Christmas season, Omaha Steaks triples its pick-and-pack lines and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Looking ahead, Simon notes that Omaha Steaks will continue innovating product around its customers’ needs and wants. “We’re constantly exploring. Right now we’ve got a lot on our plate, no pun intended.”

A Steak in History

Few catalogers can parallel their growth alongside that of a nation’s, but Omaha Steaks is one of them.

The company was founded in 1917 by J.J. Simon and his son, B.A., who, along with J.J.’s wife, fled from Latvia in 1898 to escape religious persecution.

Upon arrival in the United States, the family took a west-bound train and got off in Omaha, NE, because it looked similar to the farm country they had left. They bought a building and began a company with only a cooler and a freezer to its name (Table Supply Meat Co.), which itself was borrowed from the building’s previous owner.

“Certainly in 1917 no one thought we’d be this multimillion-dollar company,” asserts Todd Simon, descendant and company senior vice president. “I think [the owners] just wanted to do their best for themselves and their family.”

Table Supply’s offerings began growing in popularity, and in 1924 the family had to move its business to a larger building. There it began a small cattle-breaking operation, where a small crew divided full cattle carcasses into smaller cuts and sold them to local markets, national grocery chains, hotels, restaurants, and other institutions.

Railroads and Restaurants

B.A.’s son Lester became company president in 1946 and presided over what is arguably the company’s greatest period of expansion. Table Supply’s products found a new audience on the Union Pacific Railroad, where they were served to customers traveling between Omaha, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.