Vernon Stouffer

Vernon Stouffer

(August 22, 1901 - July 26, 1974)

As a young man, Vernon Stouffer's love for the restaurant business stemmed from his father's involvement in the business. His parents, A.E. Stouffer and Mahala Stouffer started in the restaurant business by opening up their own stand-up lunch counter in Cleveland's now historic Old Arcade. However, Vernon Stouffer's active participation in the business didn't start until he graduated from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1923. During the following year, Vernon Stouffer entered the restaurant business when he launched his first Stouffer Restaurant called "Stouffer Lunch." Vernon Stouffer emphasized the idea of good taste and friendly service. "Stouffer" became synonymous with those ideas. As a result, the Stouffer family adopted the motto, "Everybody is Somebody at Stouffer's." With the customer in mind, Vernon Stouffer created the recipe for success. The overwhelming requests for take-home food fueled Vernon Stouffer to create entrees as frozen prepared food and led to the formation of the Stouffer Foods Corporation. In 1967, the Stouffer Foods Corporation became a division of Litton Industries, which operated more than 45 restaurants, five motor inns, a frozen and prepared foods division, and a management food service with sales that exceeded $70 million a year. Then in 1973, the Stouffer Corporation was acquired from Litton by Nestle S.A.

Besides Vernon Stouffer's intense involvement with his family business, his achievements and civic involvement were tremendous. He created a group called the Bluecoats that aided the families of police and fire fighters who were killed in the line of duty. He established a fund called the Stouffer Prize that provided $50,000 annually for high blood pressure research.

Stouffer was an innovative boss in that he often challenged co-workers to play a game of badminton with him in one of the unused rooms that had a badminton net. Additionally, his love of sports was evident when he bought the Cleveland Indians baseball team in August 1966 to prevent them from moving to another city. As a result of Vernon Stouffer's various involvements, he was awarded with the Governor's Award from the Ohio Newspaper Association in 1967. Additionally, he earned the Chamber of Commerce Medal for Public Service in 1964.

During the fiftieth anniversary of the company that he founded, Vernon Stouffer unveiled Lean Cuisine. His legacy lives on with the promise from the Stouffer Family that, "Everything we cook in our restaurants or sell to consumers should have a clean, fresh, and natural taste." Most importantly, the Stouffer idea of quality has been paramount to the company's success.

The Stouffer Hotel company was purchased by Renaissance, which leased the rights to carry the Stouffer name in 1996. Nestle continues to market Stouffer frozen foods.

 Print Friendly