“Be a partner, not just a supplier.” This sumsup one of the main tenets of the businessphilosophy of Chex Finer Foods, as it cel-

ebrates its 46th year as a regional, third-generationfamily-owned distributor of natural and specialty foods.

In an ever consolidating and changing world of dis-tribution, Chex has been one of the longest standingand strongest players in the Northeast marketplace onthe specialty and now natural distribution scene.

The company’s continued goal is to “Deliver Excel-lence” in its products and services to its customers,some of whom have been with Chex since it began outof a garage in Sharon, Mass., in 1965.

In the fall of 1965, Jay Isenberg, at the age of 55years old, when most men think about retiring, had thevision to start a specialty food company with the supportand encouragement of his beloved wife, Dorothy.

Along with their son, David, they worked tirelesslyto build a family business committed to honesty, hardwork and a dedication to both valued customers andloyal employees.

Jay Isenberg began his food trade career buildinga successful wholesale grocery business for many yearsin Fall River, Mass. From there he went into an unrelatedfield but his passion for the food business drew himback to the industry and he became president of BondFoods (subsequently becoming Millbrook Distribu-tors). He grew the business rapidly through strongsales. However, issues with his partner led him to sellhis shares and strike out on his own and to start Chex.

Beginning in a garage in Sharon, Mass., at that time,the name of the company was Chex Distributing Co.But when David was on the road many customersinquired what Chex distributed, so the Isenbergs decid-

ed to change the name of the company to Chex FinerFoods, noting the types of customers they were servingand products they were distributing.

According to David, his father loved sales, his cus-tomers, and the specialty food business.

In the first few years of business they developed theLaurel Hill brand, which is now the company’s top sellingline. It was initially created to fill a void for products thatcustomers requested that weren’t available in brandedoptions. In the late 1960s Chex also started to importproducts from Europe, which were some of the waysthey solidified relationships with their customers andgrew their sales. Interestingly, both Laurel Hill and anexpanding import business are two of the drivers ofgrowth for Chex today.

Among the business principles Jay imparted toDavid was not just to sell his customers an order butto sell them the right products for their stores and helpmake their businesses more profitable. “We all workedvery hard and we started in on the ground floor and it

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Meet the Isenberg family running Chex Finer Foods today. Pictured above are Mike, Jeremy, and David.

Food Industry Hall of Fame

The Isenberg Family Delivers ExcellenceTo Natural & Specialty Trade

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Chex Finer Foods...

February 2012 As Seen in The Griffin Report of Food Marketing 2

makes me proud to look at the businessnow. It has been and is still a great jour-ney,” said David.

David and Jay were on the road fourdays a week selling and then came intothe office on Fridays to purchase thecompany’s weekly requirements fromtheir suppliers as well as taking care ofinternal business. David recalls early on,“I never had my own desk, but a cornerof my Dad’s desk got the job done.”

Two years later in 1967, Chex FinerFoods had outgrown the garage inSharon and the company moved for ashort period to a new site in North Attle-boro, Mass., before they developed theircurrent site in the Attleboro IndustrialPark in 1971. “Having to personallyguarantee the business kept you workingduring the day and worrying about it dur-ing the evening,” said David. During the1970s, the company added additionalpersonnel in sales, office, warehouse andtransportation and grew very rapidly.

In the late 70s, Chex lost the Star Mar-ket account, which was a key part of itsbusiness. This was a turning point in thecompany’s history, as the Isenbergs inten-sified their focus on the region’s inde-pendent and natural food retailers. Thishas been a great path and has led to manyof the opportunities that the company hascapitalized on today, including their strongposition within the natural food industrytoday.

David ran the business successfullyfor many years, deepening the relation-ships with their customers, solidifyingthe rapport with their vendors, and help-ing the company create a very strongreputation within the industry. Jay retiredin 1994 at the age of 84 years old fromChex, and at the end of his career whenhe could no longer drive, had a drivertake him around to see his customersthat he so deeply cared about.

Almost nine years ago, David’s sonsentered the business – Jeremy in 2002

and Michael in 2003. “The boys cameinto a company with a solid foundation.They have done a terrific job caring forthe customers, vendors, employees andhave worked hard to continue stronggrowth. The boys have come in with alot of energy, enthusiasm, and new tech-nology. They have taken it to a new level.”said David.

In 2007 due to the company’s stronggrowth Chex expanded their Attleborofacility by another 33 percent. This addi-tional capacity couldn’t have come at abetter time as the next generationpushed the company’s sales to recordhighs and Chex expanded their tradingarea.

Over the last few years, they havedeveloped very strong business in themetro New York market, expanded toupstate New York, and added significant-ly to their more outreaching territoriesincluding northern Vermont and Maine.When asked why he thinks Chex is so

successful, David Isenberg said, “Wetake care of our promises to our cus-tomers. We care about them, always haveand we listen to them. We create a pos-itive environment for our customers,vendors, and staffers. We try and keepour customers on the cutting edge ofspecialty and natural foods.”

David remains involved with thebusiness, helping out in the purchasingof goods. “After 46 years, it is still in yourblood,” he said. “I love the business asdid my father. I am proud of what wehave done and proud of where the boyshave taken it and the value that they haveperpetuated.”

The company is now embarking ona new venture, moving in January of2012 to larger office quarters and a newwarehouse in Mansfield, Mass.

Founders of Chex Finer Foods:Dorothy & Jay Isenberg

Members of the Chex Familyanswered questions by TheGriffin Report regarding the

family’s selection into the Food Indus-try Hall of Fame.

What do you think aresome of your familyachievements over theyears and what wouldyou like to be remem-bered for in the foodindustry?

We believe that our biggest accom-plishment is the fact that we have beenin business for over 45 years spanningthree generations. We have withstood thetest of time and are a well respected,growing and vibrant company. Some ofthe achievements that are most reward-ing include:

• Geographic expansion in lastdecade beyond New England. NewYork State is our 2nd largest geog-raphy in volume.

• Development of our Laurel HillBrand – our products can befound nationally and have woncritical acclaim from the press andthe industry.

• Being selected to the Inc. Maga-zine 5,000 list of fastest growingprivate companies.

We would like to be remembered forour family values and for the heritage weboth inherited and now pass on to suc-ceeding generations. We have remainedconsistent with our core values ofintegrity, honesty, and fairness. Wewould, in addition, like to be remem-bered for taking care of and valuing thework and effort of our team members,customers and suppliers. It is onlythrough working together for a commongoal that the destiny for all involved issuccessfully reached. Lastly, we wouldlike to be remembered for establishinga long term Isenberg Family Foundation,which reaches out to those less fortunatein our community and provides a help-ing hand to those in need.

What were the most dif-ficult challenges facingyou and your family,especially starting out,and how were you ableto overcome them?

Starting out was difficult in severalways. We started out of a small garagein Sharon, Mass. Jay Isenberg was pre-viously president of a well establishedspecialty foods distributor, BondFoods, which became our largest com-petitor. They threatened every supplierand said that if they sold to Chex thatthey would not buy from them goingforward.

The family poured its heart andsoul to make the business a success.Dorothy Isenberg, who was deeplyinvolved in the arts and community inProvidence, R.I., found time to go outand sell drug stores for Chex. Shealways said that we were selling“integrity” since she never quoted anyprices for what we sold. Dorothy, Jayand their son David were very success-ful and their sales brought in muchneeded cash flow in those early days.

In addition, we had challenges withthe banks who required personal guar-antees. After years of hard work, webecame more independent and arereinvesting back into the business.

We believe that adversities in lifecan be overcome and in the processone becomes stronger in many waysboth personally and in business. Beingpersistent, honest, fair and “being our-selves” brings us though the storm andinto the sunshine. My Mother alwayssaid that “water finds its own level” andit has.

How would you describeyour family’s manage-ment and communica-tion style over the yearswith staffers, customersand suppliers?

First and foremost, we have alwaystried to treat staffers like family. We feel

that they are our most valuable assetfor without them we would not bewhere we are today. As for our cus-tomers, we have a picture hanging inour office that had the inscription, “Ifyou do not take care of your cus-tomers, someone else will.” Whateverit takes, the customers’ needs have tobe listened to and taken care of first.Deliver excellence and settle for noth-ing less.

We have been fortunate to have verystrong relationships with our suppliers.Most of them are good friends as wellas business partners. We have beenblessed to have such a dedicated bunchof special people. Chex Finer Foods hasalways believed that a distributor anda vendor should work for one thingand one thing only: Driving sales ontheir items. Jay Isenberg used to say,“Tell everyone the truth and you willnever have to remember anythingelse.”

How did your family getpast the obstacles of achallenging economy,competition, and thepublic’s awareness orlack thereof of natural,organic and specialtyfoods?

You cannot worry about what youcannot control. We always strive towork hard, work smart, be persistent,be honest, enjoy what you do, deliverexcellence, do not watch the clock,take care of others, value our health,have faith and love our family. We livein an uncertain world which is chang-ing rapidly. We can try to understandbut cannot change some of the thingsthat are beyond our reach.

We have truly enjoyed a uniqueopportunity to help build the aware-ness for and help distribute productsthat have come to define the specialtyand natural food marketplace. As acompany, we have always focused oneducation – educating our salespeople,

our customers, and now we haveplaced more focus on point of saleeducation. We are very passionateabout products we sell and enjoy help-ing build the marketplace for specialtyand natural foods.

Any other comment youwish to make?

Yes, three final areas. First, we aremost grateful for the energy and stam-ina that Jay and Dorothy Isenbergdemonstrated as they led by example.Jay Isenberg started out of a garage atthe age of 55, when most men think ofretirement. We admire and will alwaysremember their courage and fortitude.

Second, David would like to recog-nize both of his sons, Jeremy andMichael, for all of their effort andhard work. They are really very brightand thrive on growing the business.They each possess different skillswhich compliment and support oneanother and are good for the business.They are doing a wonderful job and arecarrying forth the family heritage.

Finally, David Isenberg and the restof the Isenberg family thanks you forthis recognition.

Food Industry Hall of FameChex Family Members Share Some Thoughts

FOOD INDUSTRYHALL OF FAME

February 2012 As Seen in The Griffin Report of Food Marketing 3