Our story begins in a village in India where our CEO, Mas Khan, was born. As a small child, war broke out, and Mas became a refugee in an instant. These circumstances did not hinder him from reaching his goals. He dreamt big and eventually applied to Oklahoma State University Engineering College.
To his surprise, Mas was accepted, but it required him to leave everything he knew behind, sell all of his belongings, and move to the United States. Mas learned quickly and worked hard in his new country. He worked many jobs, from CTA bus driver, to assembly line worker, to hotel restaurant busboy. Mas stayed focused on his end goal and earned a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. After several years of working for large companies, Mas decided the personal touch of a mid-sized company was missing from the food industry.
That decision gave birth to a new dream: running his own company to fill that need. Mas Khan acquired Subco Foods (of West Chicago) in 1994. Subco Foods had been struggling to meet its customer’s needs and was not innovative. Mas used his knowledge of the industry, together with an expert team, to tackle Subco’s existing problems. In a few months, they were able to turn the company around, repair the customer relationships, and meet their deadlines.
The success of the West Chicago location has allowed Subco Foods to acquire and turn around other similar situations. In 2002, Subco seized an opportunity to purchase the Torbitt Dry Products facility in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, successfully expanding to a second state, while solving that plant’s inventory issues.
Subco Foods bought Wagner Excello Foods in 2009, expanding Subco into liquid manufacturing while leveraging Subco’s existing manufacturing to restore Wagner’s relationships with its customers. Subco Foods most recently acquired Gust John Foods and the Northern Pines brand in 2017, combining existing brand recognition with Subco’s higher volume capabilities.
Today, Subco Foods remains a privately owned family business. 200 employees (and growing) work at the two locations in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and West Chicago, Illinois. Both plants run regularly five days a week and are capable of running multiple shifts or weekends. Subco Foods facilities are Kosher certified and meet or exceed SQF 3 certification.
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