In this issue of Independent Processor, we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of two institutions in the meat industry. First is the company on the cover, Dietz & Watson. Gottlieb Dietz was a restaurant owner and a sausagemaker in Germany and came to America to ply his trade in a new country. He took over William Watson’s ham business, and the rest is history. Today, the company is a relative rarity as a privately held deli manufacturer that more than holds its own in the deli case against some of the biggest names in the meat industry.
After visiting the company’s Philadelphia plant and talking with the family members, it’s clear that the family takes tremendous pride in producing top-quality deli meats. Ruth Dietz, Gottlieb’s daughter, started working in the business, along with her sister Laura, in 1942, when she was 14 years old. She’s still coming into the office every day… when she’s not traveling and promoting the product at grocery stores. You don’t spend more than 70 years coming to work unless you’re truly passionate about what you do.