Ready Foods is not a household name in Colorado. However, after 47 years of selling soups and sauces into restaurants, supermarkets and other foodservice outlets, you have probably eaten their food on multiple occasions. Ready Foods was founded in 1972 by Luis Abarca, a Mexican immigrant. Their first kitchen was located in a small meat plant located under the Colfax viaduct. In 1992, the reins of leadership were passed onto his children Marco and Adrianna. They have been able to grow the business from a small facility to four modern food plants with over 200,000 square feet of combined production and storage space. The company now employees over 300 people.

While over the years company revenues have grown quickly, Ready Foods has worked hard to maintain a solid company culture. Ready Foods has always had a strong commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. From the very beginning, the company’s leadership has understood the importance of investing in its own people. They understood that Ready Foods’ people were their greatest resource. In turn, they have been fortunate to have many long term employees and a lower than average industry turnover rate.

After twenty-five years of learning how to make the company grow, Marco understood that most of the low hanging fruit had already been picked. To take the company to the next level, new sources of ideas were needed. Yet, he was reluctant to hire consultants. He noted, “I always thought consultants would tell me what I already knew. I had confidence that with enough hard work, we could figure out any problems. But eventually, it became clear that we did not have to teach ourselves everything. Why not learn from the hard-won lessons of other people?”

After researching the Toyota Production System and lean theories of continuous improvement, Marco turned to Manufacturer’s Edge. Ready Foods’ first step with Manufacturer’s Edge was to engage in creating a Strategic Plan. After understanding where they wanted to take the company, Ready Foods began reexamining all elements of the company. “There were no sacred cows.”, Marco observed. “Everything was on the table.” While many of the company’s practices were already “lean”, there was still room for improvement.

Ready Foods was an already successful medium-sized company when it first started working with Manufacturer’s Edge. However, Marco understood that for the company to pass to the next generation of ownership, Ready Foods needed new ideas. In conclusion, Marco remarked “Manufacturer’s Edge has a been a great partner. We have been very happy with their services and we look forward to deepening our relationship.”

“We are a mid-sized company that was beginning to plateau. With Manufacturer’s Edge’s assistance we have been able to get back on a growth trajectory. We have been very happy with their services and we are looking forward to deepening our relationship.

Marco Antonio Abarca, Owner, Ready Foods, Inc.