Bush Brothers and Company facts for kids
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| Corporation (Family-owned) | |
| Industry | Food processing |
| Founded | Chestnut Hill, Tennessee, U.S. (1908) |
| Founder | Andrew Jackson Bush |
| Headquarters | Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
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Key people
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Al Williams (Chairman and CEO) |
Bush Brothers and Company is a family-owned business famous for its Bush's Best brand of baked beans in cans. This company makes about 80% of all the canned baked beans eaten in the United States. They sell over $400 million worth of beans each year and process more than 55 million pounds of beans!
Besides baked beans, they also offer other kinds of canned beans like black beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, and refried beans. They also sell peas, hominy, and cut green beans. Bush Brothers is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has factories in Augusta, Wisconsin, and Chestnut Hill, Tennessee. You can find their canned foods in grocery stores and restaurants across the United States and Canada.
How Bush Brothers Started
In 1904, a man named A.J. Bush teamed up with the Stokely family to open a tomato cannery in Chestnut Hill, Tennessee. A cannery is a place where food is put into cans. His business did so well that by 1908, he bought out the Stokelys. He then started his own company, Bush Brothers & Company, with his two oldest sons, Fred and Claude.
Growing the Business (1922–1935)
In 1922, A.J. Bush officially made his business a corporation. This meant it became a bigger, more organized company. His oldest son, Fred Bush, became the president.
At first, canning was done mostly by hand. But over time, the company started using steam-powered machines, and then electric machines, to make the work faster and easier.
During the 1920s, Bush Brothers & Company began canning more than just tomatoes. They built a small factory in Clinton, Tennessee, in 1923, and started canning peaches too. By 1928, they were canning corn and hominy. They even opened a new plant in LaFollette, Tennessee, in 1930, where they canned blueberries.
The original factory in Chestnut Hill wasn't big enough anymore. So, in 1929, Bush Brothers built a new, larger building nearby. This became their main canning factory for many years.
In 1933, Bush Brothers started selling pork and beans under their "Chestnut Hill" label. This product was very popular! They even started canning different kinds of meats and made a pet food called Tony Dog and Cat Food, which they sold until the 1980s.
By 1935, the company was growing fast. Newspapers wrote about them canning ten million cans of vegetables a year! They also owned 2,000 acres of farmland and worked with 500 farmers to get their vegetables.
Changes Due to a Dam (1942–1948)
In 1942, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced that a new dam, the Douglas Dam, would flood some land. This land included several farms owned by Bush Brothers. After talking things over, Bush Brothers & Company agreed to sell seven of their best farmlands and a canning plant to the TVA.
To make up for the lost farmland, Bush Brothers bought a canning company in Arkansas in 1944. It was a tough start, but Claude Bush moved to Arkansas in 1948 and helped turn it into a successful business.
New Products and Growth (1946–1965)
After A.J. Bush passed away in 1946, Bush Brothers & Company started selling their products under their own brand name, "Bush's Best." Before this, they often canned food for other companies to sell. With the rise of supermarkets and TV ads in the 1950s, the company did very well.
They continued to sell many canned vegetables, especially green beans. They also started offering dry bean products, which they would later become famous for. In 1952, they introduced Great Northern Beans with Plain Sauce, and in 1953, Mexican Style Beans in Chili Gravy.
Claude Bush became president in 1959. He believed the company should expand into new areas. In the 1960s, they bought several other canning plants. They even started their own truck company, Tennessee Truck Lines, in 1962, to help transport their products.
The Rise of Bush's Best Baked Beans (1969–1978)
The year 1969 was difficult for canning companies because there was too much product and prices were low. Claude's son, Condon Bush, had a great idea: create a new product that would be popular and keep their Augusta factory busy. He was inspired by the company's earlier success with pork and beans. Condon decided to make a baked bean product using his mother Kathleen's secret recipe.
This idea was a huge success! Sales of Bush's Best Baked Beans jumped from ten thousand cases in 1969 to a hundred thousand in 1970. By 1971, they sold almost a million cases! Baked beans became very popular during the United States Bicentennial celebration. Bush Brothers decided to focus all their efforts on selling Bush's Best Baked Beans. Their plan worked, with sales increasing by 173% in 1976 and another 34% in 1977.
In 1978, Condon Bush became the new president of Bush Brothers & Company.
New Leadership and Advertising (1979–Present)
In 1979, Bush Brothers bought the Dubon brand of canned foods. These canned vegetables, like carrots, peas, and beets, are mostly sold in Louisiana.
Throughout the 1980s, Bush Brothers continued to become a company known for its own branded, ready-to-eat products. After some changes in leadership, the company decided to bring in outside experts to help guide the business. In 1991, Bush Brothers & Company moved its main office to Knoxville, Tennessee, to make it easier to hire new managers.
In 1992, Jim Ethier became president and COO, while Condon Bush became CEO and chairman of the board.
Jay Bush and Duke the Dog
In 1993, Bush Brothers & Company hired an advertising company to create a new campaign for their baked beans. The new ads focused on the "secret family recipe" and introduced Jay Bush (Condon's son) as the company's spokesperson.
In 1995, a new ad featured Jay with a talking golden retriever named Duke. This dog was based on Bush's real-life pet golden retriever. The ads were a huge hit! They helped sales of Bush's Best Baked Beans go way up. The ads also made the catchphrase "Roll that beautiful bean footage!" famous. In the commercials, Jay always tries to keep Duke from telling the secret family recipe.
Because of these popular ads, Jay and Duke became celebrities! Sales of the company's beans increased from 48% of the national market to 80%. The success of the commercials even led the company to publish a children's book called Duke Finds a Home in 2006.
Sadly, Sam, one of the dogs who played Duke on screen, passed away in 2018. The role had already been taken over by another dog a few years before.
What's New at Bush Brothers
The Bush Visitor Center is an expansion of founder A.J. Bush's original General Store in Chestnut Hill, Tennessee. It has a museum, a gift shop, and a café. You can even see the special display of the "Bush's Secret Family Recipe" book there!
Bush's Racing also sponsors the #47 Chevy Camaro car in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This car is part of the JTG Daugherty Racing team and is currently driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr..
Bush Brothers and Company also helps sponsor the yearly Bean and Bacon Days festival in Augusta, Wisconsin. This is where the company bought an old canning factory in 1961.
In 2009, Kristian Bush, who is A.J. Bush's great-grandson and part of the band Sugarland, mentioned on Oprah that he doesn't like beans anymore because he ate so many growing up!
Bush Brothers Brands
- Bush's
- Bush's Best
- Bush's Showboat Pork and Beans
- Blue Lake Cut Green Beans
- Tony Dog Food
- Tony Dog and Cat Food
- Dubon Premier
See also
- List of food companies
- Baked beans
- Beans
- Canning
- List of American advertising characters
- List of mascots
