Passage III

Bill Williams Brings America Home to Dinner

[1]

You have to admire the honesty of a company who’s slogan is “Just About the Best.” Glory Foods’ president, and founder Bill Williams, explains the unusual slogan by admitting that while he knows that his foods can’t beat the taste of real home cooking, it does come very close.

[2]

Even as a child, Williams loved to prepare food, and as a young adult, he refined his cooking skills at the prestigiously acclaimed Culinary Institute of America. In 1989, he came up with his idea for a line of Southern-inspired cuisine, a time when there were no convenience foods designed for African American consumers. Over the next three years, he developed a line of products that included canned greens, sweet potatoes, beans, and okra, as well as bottled hot sauce and cornbread mixes.

[3]

Eventually, Williams was ready to launch his products in grocery stores. Initially, Glory Foods were first offered for sale in Ohio in 1992 and soon became available in neighboring states. Within a year, sales were twice the original projections.(38)

[4]

The company’s African American focus is evident in all aspects of Glory Foods. The firm’s headquarters are located in the same black neighborhood where Williams grew up, and the company helps to support several local community projects. The firm also employs African American professional advisers and subcontractors whenever possible and contracts African American farmers to grow much of the produce that goes into Glory Foods.(40)

[5]

The company’s name reflects this African American focus as well. Glory is meant to evoke both the exultant spirit of gospel churches and the movie during the Civil War of the same name, which tells the story of a black regiment.(43)

[6]

With twenty full-time employees in its administrative offices, Glory Foods has come a long way from its beginnings. America's dinner tables were the beneficiaries of Bill Williams’s drive, determination, and culinary expertise.