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92_HR0773
LRB9216522RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Located on the northwest side of Chicago in the
3 Logan Square neighborhood, Stewarts Private Blend Food, Inc.
4 is a company with a long and distinguished tradition of
5 manufacturing quality coffees and teas; and
6 WHEREAS, These products are distributed to some of
7 Chicago's finest clubs, restaurants and hotels, and to
8 grocery stores, gourmet shops, offices, and institutions
9 throughout the United States; today, Stewarts Private Blend
10 Foods remains Chicago's oldest family-owned coffee company;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, Former General Motors executive William A.
13 Stewart, a world traveler and connoisseur of fine coffees and
14 teas, founded the company in Chicago in 1913; he would travel
15 throughout the world, particularly to the Orient, to find the
16 best blends that would produce the rarest coffees and teas;
17 and
18 WHEREAS, Stewarts Private Blend Foods, Inc.'s specially
19 formulated coffees and teas became known as "The Best of the
20 Best," and trains that traveled from Chicago to cities
21 throughout the country were always well-stocked with Stewarts
22 special blend coffees and teas; special honors bestowed upon
23 Stewarts Private Blend Foods, Inc. include being chosen as
24 the "Official World's Fair Coffee" during the 1933-1934
25 Century of Progress World's Fair held in Chicago; and
26 WHEREAS, Afer his death in 1941, William A. Stewarts's
27 son, Donald R. Stewart, became president of Stewarts Private
28 Blend Foods, remaining at the head of the firm until 1975;
29 after World War II, many large coffee companies in the
30 Chicago area acquired family-owned firms, however, Stewarts
31 Private Blend Foods, Inc. remained independent, refusing to
32 be bought out by the larger companies; and
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1 WHEREAS, During the late 1950s and 1960s, Stewarts
2 Private Blend Foods, Inc. decided to broaden its base in the
3 faster-growing food-service, institutional, and
4 specialty-food arenas; the company placed a new emphasis upon
5 supplying its coffee and tea products to a rapidly growing
6 segment of the market: fast food chains, restaurants and
7 gourmet specialty shops, and the kitchens of hotels,
8 healthcare facilities, schools, government agencies, and the
9 military; today, Stewarts Private Blend Foods has more than
10 twenty food-service brokers working with the firm's field
11 sales manager to market the company's food-service products;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, In addition to being a major supplier for retail
14 grocers and food service operations throughout the United
15 States, the company also formulates and manufactures quality
16 teas and coffees for other food manufacturers and grocery
17 chains that are sold under custom or private labels; and
18 WHEREAS, In 1975, William A. Stewart, Donald R. Stewart,
19 Jr., and Robert C. Stewart, grandsons of the company's
20 founder, assumed mutual leadership of Stewart Private Blend,
21 Inc.; other members of the management team include Dave
22 Griffiths, vice president of special projects; Ed Fabro, vice
23 president of plant operations; Robert Tomkins, director of
24 marketing, and Elita Pagan, comptroller; the family-oriented
25 company maintains an open-door policy for its approximately
26 50-person staff, encouraging employees to contribute their
27 ideas and frequently including them in product taste testing;
28 and
29 WHEREAS, Roasting and blending the rarest gourmet coffees
30 and teas from around the world continues to be the top
31 priority for Stewarts Private Blend Foods, Inc.; the company
32 is continually developing exciting new flavors and products
33 and plans to begin distribution of its products outside the
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1 United States; with an ongoing commitment to excellence first
2 established in 1913 by its founder, William A. Stewart, there
3 is no doubt Stewarts Private Blend Foods, Inc. will remain
4 Chicago's own "The Best if the Best"; therefore, be it
5 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7 we honor Stewarts Private Blend Foods, Inc. for its continual
8 dedication and service for the past 89 years to the people of
9 Chicago and throughout the world; and be it further
10 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11 presented to William A. Stewart, Donald R. Stewart, Jr., and
12 Robert C. Stewart as an expression of our esteem.