Beaverton Foods is thriving despite the tough economic times
By Brian Woods and KATU Web StaffBEAVERTON, Ore. - One of our area’s famous homegrown businesses was born in the worst of times and is thriving in these tough times. Beaverton Foods is the nation’s largest supplier of specialty condiments, such as horseradish and special mustards. Even though many businesses are shrinking right now, Beaverton Foods is expanding. The company is adding a fifth production line and may soon bottle its Beaver, Inglehoffer, Napa Valley and other brands 24 hours a day. The late Rose Biggi started in the depression in the cellar of her Beaverton farmhouse. She crushed, bottled and sold her homegrown horseradish roots. First, she sold the bottles door-to-door and then on the shelves of a new store her friends opened in Portland - Fred Meyer. Biggi's horseradish proved so popular that the company grew and grew. The family-owned company became the first to bottle creamy horseradish and the first to develop honey mustard. Now the multi-million dollar business sells more than 150 specialty condiments. Biggi's son, 80-year-old Gene Biggi, is President. He says the key has been growing the company slowly with little or no debt. Something he expects his son, Domonic, to continue when he takes over the company. When asked what he thinks of the current economic times, Biggi said, “They are unusual, real unusual. The fact is I’ve never seen times like today. There are a lot of scared people out there and they should be. It is their fault. They are not good business people.” Biggi knows that is tough talk but he says people need to realize how dangerous debt can be. Biggi says what our economy is suffering now is actually a good thing. He says he hopes it makes people realize what is really important - and it has nothing to do with easy money. It is about your health and your family, he says. And, he is reminded of something his late mother, the founder the company said, “God grant us health and energy and we’ll do the rest.” |
 
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