Rich's Products - Hilliard
Rich Products Corp. has donated donuts to the Hilliard Ohio Historical Society for various festivities over the past ten years. Those donuts come from Rich’s Hilliard plant at 4600 Northwest Parkway, said Michelle Hurtt, senior master production scheduler and Hilliard resident. It is Hurtt’s job to facilitate the company’s charitable donations to local organizations including the Chamber of Commerce, the Franklin County Fair, and several elementary schools. Rich’s supports local groups as part of its philosophy which seeks community improvement. The company has a list of corporate values including treating customers as family. “Associate and product safety is number one,” said Hurtt.
Along with donuts, the Hilliard plant’s 310 employees produce icings, fillings, and glazes, said Hurtt. Hilliard was selected for Rich’s Ohio plant due to its central location for distribution purposes. ...Headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Rich’s has been in business since 1941. A private corporation owned by the Rich family, it has plants that make a vast variety of food items in 11 states and Canada. It has customers worldwide and some 9,000 employees. The late Bob Rich Sr. began the company when he developed nondairy creamer for point-of-sale businesses. “He was a very smart and innovative man,” said Hurtt.
Rich’s plants prepare the food and ship it to warehouses where customers purchase it for sale in their own businesses. “(Customers) purchase our products and sell it as theirs,” said Hurtt. Doing so cuts costs as it is expensive to have in-store skilled bakers, she said.
Products range from Take-and-Bake Pizza that you can find on sale at Walmart, to French toast and cheese sticks at Burger King, to donuts and SeaPaks at Kroger’s. Rich’s also produces cakes, cookies, frozen dough, meatballs, and appetizers, to name a few items. It also partners with hotels to provide food service, said Hurtt.
Hurtt began her career with Rich’s in 1988 after graduating from The Ohio State University. “I’ve stayed because it is a family-oriented company. They take care of their people,” she said.
For more information visit www.richs.com
