Omaha Steaks

Omaha Steaks International, Inc., known as Omaha Steaks, is a family business that manufactures, markets, and distributes steaks, red meats, and gourmet foods.^[2][3][4] The company is named after the American city it was founded and is headquartered in, Omaha, Nebraska.

History

The company was founded in 1917 as a single butcher shop in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha Steaks is a fifth-generation, privately held family business, that is now one of America’s largest marketers of beef.^[2] Omaha Steaks also owns an affiliate company, World Port Seafood.

Omaha butcher shop

J.J. Simon and his son, B.A. came to America to escape antisemitism.^[5] Passing through Ellis Island in 1898, they settled in Omaha because of the farmland's similarity to their homeland Riga, Latvia. They worked for nearly 20 years as butchers for other people.^[5] In 1917, the family founded Omaha Steaks as a cattle carcass operation at 17th and Douglas Streets.^[2]

Table Supply Meat Co.

The Simon family bought an old carpentry store, Table Supply Co., as the site for their meat-cutting business. In an effort to save money, B.A. moved the two letters "Co" to the right, inserted the word "Meat" and called their new company Table Supply Meat Co.^[2] By 1924, the business moved to a larger building at 1211 Howard Street, in the heart of the Old Market neighborhood, from which J.J. and B.A. began selling cuts of meat to local supermarkets and national chain grocery stores, as well as to hotel restaurants and institutional customers.^[1]

B.A.’s son, Lester Simon, is credited with introducing Omaha Steaks across the US, when he brokered a deal with the Union Pacific Railroad to begin serving Omaha Steaks in the dining cars of their transcontinental trains in the 1940s.^[5][6] Lester Simon hand-selected the meat for the Union Pacific passenger trains that traveled between Omaha and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.^[2] Train passengers who ordered Omaha Steaks in Union Pacific’s dining cars prompted the company to launch its first mail order ventures – magazine ads and direct mail flyers – in 1952.^[5] Lester Simon also began shifting Table Supply's focus from a butcher operation to the marketing of fine cuts of meat.^[2]

Mail order

In 1952, the first mail order operation was launched to serve distant customers. The meat was shipped in wax-lined cartons filled with dry ice. It was not until the early 1960s that insulated shipping containers made of polystyrene and vacuum packaging, became available.^[5] In 1961, Nebraska Governor Frank B. Morrison sent steaks from Table Supply to President John F. Kennedy and all of the governors in the United States. In that same year, Table Supply was honored to be involved in the Culinary Olympics held in Frankfurt, Germany, at which the United States team won the Grand Gold Prize with a dish that featured aged prime ribs of beef provided by Table Supply, thereby earning an international reputation for the Omaha company.^[5]

Omaha Steaks International

Omaha Steaks Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon

In 1966, when the company moved into its southwest Omaha headquarters at 4400 S. 96th Street, the Simon family changed the name from Table Supply Meat Co. to Omaha Steaks International. The company plant remains at that site. The corporate offices are now at 10909 John Galt Boulevard.^[2] In the 1970s, Omaha Steaks added inbound and outbound call centers and a mail order industry-first toll-free customer service line. An automated order entry system was installed in 1987.^[2][5]

Retail stores

Omaha Steaks opened its first retail store in Omaha in 1976 when buying a product from the company was limited to eating at certain restaurants that offered their products, or ordering meats from its mail-order catalog.^[2] Omaha Steaks underwent another expansion phase in the 1980s and 1990s, consolidating administration and marketing in two new buildings.^[7]

In 1985 the company ventured beyond Nebraska, opening a retail store in Houston.^[5] Omaha Steaks now has more than 85 retail stores in 29 states.^[2] Another area where Omaha Steaks focused on growing was its corporate sales unit, which it expanded upon in the mid-1990s. Omaha Steaks created a separate corporate catalog that was intended to serve the corporate buyers who were already customers. The effort soon began to pay off for Omaha Steaks. In just two years, the company was able to grow its corporate sales by 50 percent.^[5]

In 2004, Omaha Steaks began selling pet treats.^[8]

Operations

Omaha Steaks are shipped directly to customers packed in insulated coolers chilled with ice.^[9] The company also operates retail stores, which carry the same products as offered through mail order.^[2] The company uses a variety of marketing techniques, including mail order, telesales, telemarketing, retail sales and Internet-based sales.^[4] Besides its retail stores, food-service operation, catalogs and direct mail, Omaha Steaks also includes business-to-business gifts and incentives, special markets and a website.^[2]

Bruce Simon is President and Chief Operating Officer of Omaha Steaks. Todd Simon, responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s marketing programs and employee training initiatives, serves as senior vice president.^[10]

As of April 2013, Omaha Steaks is listed by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce as the 22nd largest employer in the city of Omaha.^[11] The company hires 2,500 seasonal employees. Some of which are hired to add to company's permanent work force of about 1,800.^[1] Omaha Steaks is the largest small parcel direct shipper of gourmet foods in the US. Its 400-item product line generates revenue of about $450 million in annual sales^[1]– a total of about 4 million packages a year.

Marketing

Omaha Steaks logo, typically seen on boxes steaks are shipped in

Internet marketing

Omaha Steaks was an early adopter of internet marketing since the 1990s, using CompuServe for online sales.^[12] Omahasteaks.com, launched in 1995, and is the company’s fastest growing business segment.^[7] The company became part of the Microsoft Network in 1998.^[5] In 2011, Omaha Steaks launched a website for mobile devices^[13] and released the Steak Time applications for iPhone and iPad.^[14] Steak Time features how-to videos, tips, and recipes.

Tailgating trademark

In 2010, Omaha Steaks was granted a trademark for the phrase "The Official Sponsor of Tailgating."^[15]

NFL Rookie of the Year (2010) Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle with the Detroit Lions, was named as a spokesman of tailgating for the official sponsor of tailgating, Omaha Steaks, in 2010.^[16][17]

In popular culture

Omaha Steaks has been either featured or mentioned on the television shows Good Morning America, CBS Early Show, The West Wing, Oprah, The View, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Rules of Engagement, The Dr. Phil Show, The Rachel Ray Show, The Larry Sanders Show, Modern Family, Live with Regis and Kelly, Tosh.0, The Simpsons and Fear the Walking Dead. Also, it has been referenced in the movies DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story and Up in the Air.

In 2011, Omaha Steaks was featured on season 11 of Celebrity Apprentice.^[18] The episode had more than 8 million viewers and featured Bruce and Todd Simon as judges.^[19][20]

Philanthropy

The Simon family has a consistent record of supporting local and national cultural arts organizations such as Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts,^[21] Film Streams,^[22] Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha Performing Arts Society, the Omaha Summer Arts Festival, Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Theatre Company for Young People, Opera Omaha, and the Santa Fe Opera.^[23] Omaha Steaks supports American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society.^[6]

Works or publications

Television

• Omaha Steaks on CNBC The Big Idea (12/5/06)
• Mentioned in Fear the Walking Dead (May 8, 2016)

Cookbooks

• Simon, Frederick J, John Harrisson, and Mark Kiffin. The Steaklover's Companion: 170 Savory Recipes from America's Greatest Chefs. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997. ISBN 978-0-0601-8781-1
  • Cookbook adapts dishes from recipes developed by James Beard, who had been an Omaha Steaks consultant for many years
• Simon, Frederick J, and John Harrisson. A year of beef recipes : beef for all seasons. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. ISBN 978-0-0601-9382-9
• Harrisson, John, and Frederick J. Simon. Omaha Steaks: Let's Grill. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2001. ISBN 978-0-6096-0776-3
• Harrisson, John, and Frederick J. Simon. Omaha Steaks Meat. New York, N.Y: C. Potter, 2001. ISBN 978-0-6096-0777-0
• The Great American Grilling Book. New York: Time, Inc. Home Entertainment, 2008. ISBN 978-1-6032-0020-2

Free publications

• Omaha Steaks International good life guide and cookbook, a yearly volume
• Great Gathering Guide & Cookbook, a free cookbook and cooking guide with coupons

See also

• Direct marketing
• Gourmet Foods
• Mail-Order Business

Notes and references

External links

• Omaha Steaks website