TW Garner Food Company/Green Mountain Gringo
Information
The Year was 1929.
"So how is it that a tasty red pepper sauce made in North Carolina happens to be named 'Texas Pete' anyway?" Legend has it that, when Sam Garner and his three sons, Thad, Ralph and Harold, were trying to come up with a brand name for this spicy new sauce they had created, Sam suggested they use Texas, which had a reputation for spicy cuisine. Then he glanced at son Harold, whose nickname was "Pete" and the Texas Pete cowboy was born. Movie cowboys were very popular in the 1930's, men like Tom Mix and Hopalong Cassidy, representing a sort of universal image of rugged independence and self-reliance, the perfect ideal for a family business trying to survive tough times.
In 1929, the next in line, Thad, decided to use his college money to buy a nearby barbecue restaurant. Along with the restaurant came a special secret recipe for a delicious, so everybody told them, barbecue sauce.
The restaurant did not survive, but the barbecue sauce, made in the family kitchen, survived and prospered. People loved it! Sam, who never met a stranger, traveled the back roads of North Carolina peddling their sauce. Thad, along with the rest of the family, were helping in the kitchen.
Sam, Thad, Ralph and Harold continued in the food business, forming a partnership and, in 1946, incorporating into T.W. Garner Food Company. Over the years the "four Garners", as they were known, produced a number of food products.
Today the company is prospering as it celebrates its ninety-fifth year in business. Members of the third and fourth generations of the Garner family have followed in their elders' footsteps. The current factory, built in 1942, sits on the original Garner family home site in northwest Winston-Salem. And the legendary Texas Pete, proud of his cowboy heritage but also a proud North Carolinian, continues to thrive!
Still family owned and operated and on their 4th generation of ownership.
Matt McCollum new President & CEO 1/1/25 will be replacing Ann Garner Riddle, who is retiring after 52 years with the company.
"So how is it that a tasty red pepper sauce made in North Carolina happens to be named 'Texas Pete' anyway?" Legend has it that, when Sam Garner and his three sons, Thad, Ralph and Harold, were trying to come up with a brand name for this spicy new sauce they had created, Sam suggested they use Texas, which had a reputation for spicy cuisine. Then he glanced at son Harold, whose nickname was "Pete" and the Texas Pete cowboy was born. Movie cowboys were very popular in the 1930's, men like Tom Mix and Hopalong Cassidy, representing a sort of universal image of rugged independence and self-reliance, the perfect ideal for a family business trying to survive tough times.
In 1929, the next in line, Thad, decided to use his college money to buy a nearby barbecue restaurant. Along with the restaurant came a special secret recipe for a delicious, so everybody told them, barbecue sauce.
The restaurant did not survive, but the barbecue sauce, made in the family kitchen, survived and prospered. People loved it! Sam, who never met a stranger, traveled the back roads of North Carolina peddling their sauce. Thad, along with the rest of the family, were helping in the kitchen.
Sam, Thad, Ralph and Harold continued in the food business, forming a partnership and, in 1946, incorporating into T.W. Garner Food Company. Over the years the "four Garners", as they were known, produced a number of food products.
Today the company is prospering as it celebrates its ninety-fifth year in business. Members of the third and fourth generations of the Garner family have followed in their elders' footsteps. The current factory, built in 1942, sits on the original Garner family home site in northwest Winston-Salem. And the legendary Texas Pete, proud of his cowboy heritage but also a proud North Carolinian, continues to thrive!
Still family owned and operated and on their 4th generation of ownership.
Matt McCollum new President & CEO 1/1/25 will be replacing Ann Garner Riddle, who is retiring after 52 years with the company.
Hall
Hall E
Country
United States
US State/Canadian Providence
North Carolina
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