[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5025-S5026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BEST HARVEST BAKERY

 Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to recognize a 
significant minority enterprise in my home state of Kansas. The venture 
is Best Harvest Bakery, and its founders are two highly capable and 
energetic African-American businessmen, Bob Beavers, Jr. and Ed 
Honesty. Best Harvest is supplying hamburger buns to 560 McDonald's 
restaurants throughout the Midwest and will supply a new type of soft 
roll to the U.S. military. As minority suppliers to McDonald's, Bob and 
Ed join a growing force that last year provided over $3 billion in 
goods and services to the system.
  Bob and Ed got their start as McDonald's employees and rose through 
the ranks to senior positions. Bob started as crew and attained the 
rank of senior vice president and a position on McDonald's board of 
directors. Ed joined the company right out of law school and became 
managing counsel for the Great Lakes Region. Last year, the two left 
their secure positions to become independent entrepreneurs and 
suppliers to the company. Bob and Ed chose to locate in Kansas City, 
Kansas because, as they said, it is ``the heart of the bread basket.'' 
I along with many others in my home state welcome them and Best 
Harvest's contribution to our thriving economy.
  Mr. PRESIDENT, I ask that this article on Bob Beavers and Ed Honesty, 
published in the April 2000, issue of Franchise Times, be placed in the 
Record, and I encourage my colleagues to read the account of these two 
outstanding African-Americans and their evolving relationship with 
McDonald's, which has again demonstrated its commitment to diversity.

                 [From the Franchise Times, Apr. 2000]

                   Former Execs Switch To Supply Side

                         (By Nancy Weingartner)

       Robert M. Beavers Jr. Started as a part-time McDonald's 
     worker earning $1 an hour. At his girlfriend's suggestion, he 
     took the job during his junior year at George Washington 
     University, because it was close to where she lived. He 
     became an intricate part of the franchisee's business and 
     when it was sold, corporate asked him to come to Oak Brook. 
     In his 36-year career with McDonald's, he climbed the ladder 
     to a senior vice president position and was responsible for 
     bringing hundreds of minority franchisees into the system. He 
     was also the first African American on the hamburger giant's 
     board of directors.
       Edward Honesty Jr. joined McDonald's right out of law 
     school. He worked his way up to managing counsel for the 
     Great Lakes Region, helped start the Business Counsel Program 
     and was a frequent attendee and speaker at the American Bar 
     Association's Forum on Franchising and the International 
     Franchise Association's Legal Symposium.
       So why would two men who were at the top of their game 
     decide to give up their expense accounts and their impressive 
     titles to become suppliers?
       In one word--entrepreneurship.
       It was because of their contacts at McDonald's and the fact 
     that they knew the system so well, they were able to put 
     together a deal where everyone could rise to the top.
       ``We look at the McDonald's system as a three-legged 
     stool,'' Beavers said. Each leg--corporate, franchisees and 
     suppliers--are necessary in order to keep the stool on its 
     feet. ``No one has been all three,'' Beavers said. Until now.
       Beavers is part of an investment group, including Berkshire 
     Partners, that purchased Fresh Start Bakeries from the 
     Campbell Soup Company in 1999. Fresh Start's 14 bakeries 
     worldwide supply 24 percent of McDonald's restaurants in the 
     U.S., 64 percent of the Latin America restaurants and 14 
     percent of those in Europe. Beavers will serve as a director 
     of Fresh Start. In addition, Beavers and Honesty purchased a 
     majority interest in the Kansas City bakery and formed a 
     joint venture with Fresh Start. Honesty is president and 
     chief operating officer and Beavers is chairman and CEO.
       They chose buns because it's a core product that McDonald's 
     uses in large quantities, and the Kansas City location 
     because it's in ``the heart of the bread basket'' and close 
     to the McDonald's restaurants they supply.
       While McDonald's is their largest customer, they don't have 
     a written contract. All arrangements with suppliers at 
     McDonald's are by a handshake, Beavers said. That's the way 
     Ray Kroc started doing business in 1955 and the way the 
     company still does it, he said. ``We (suppliers) have to do 
     our part, they (corporate) have to do their part. It makes 
     for a powerful relationship,'' he said.
       Structuring the deal with a handshake has served McDonald's 
     well, Beavers said, and ``that's the spirit (in which) I want 
     to grow our business.''


                           Leaving Corporate

       Part of the reason Honesty was able to join Beavers in the 
     endeavor with a minimum amount of trepidation was that they 
     were able to get McDonald's ``blessing'' before leaping. Both 
     knew that being a supplier to McDonald's was a win-win deal.
       Honesty had put together a blue binder with his mission 
     statement, attributes and financials and took it to 
     McDonald's purchasing department a couple of years before the 
     Fresh Start deal materialized. He let it be known, he said, 
     that he was interested in becoming a supplier for McDonald's.
       Meanwhile, Beavers was also looking for a change of pace. 
     When he heard about the bakery opportunity, he spoke to the 
     head of McDonald's, Jack Greenberg, who Beavers said thought 
     it was a great opportunity.
       It was a great opportunity for Honesty also, who invested 
     his life's savings and stock options in his quest for the 
     entrepreneurial life. He moved his family, a son, 15, and a 
     daughter, 11, from the Chicago area to Kansas City, 
     necessitating his wife to give up her prestigious job as a 
     medical director for Advocate Health Care.
       Was he nervous? ``I didn't dwell on the nervousness or the 
     `what ifs,' '' he said. ``I hope to remain nervous forever, I 
     don't want to get complacent; I need to maximize my 
     potential. I'm just where I want to be--slightly over my 
     head,'' he said.
       Because of their positive experiences with McDonald's both 
     men knew they wanted to remain in the family. Their training 
     at McDonald's, including sweeping the floors and learning how 
     to make a hamburger, prepared them to build their company 
     based on McDonald's winning recipe.
       Beavers' experience on the board for 19 years gave him a 
     ``good understanding of how a public company is run and great 
     insight into developing a brand.''
       Honesty's dealing with the legal side of the business 
     taught him about fairness and how to settle problems at the 
     business table rather than in court. In business, he said, 
     you're in it for the long haul, and the ones you met on the 
     way up are the same ones you'll meet on the way down,'' he 
     contends.
       While McDonald's will always be their No. 1 customer--
     ``Always dance with the one who brung you.'' Honesty quips--
     Great Harvest has room in its production schedule to develop 
     other business. One contract they've won is with the U.S. 
     military to develop a soft roll that can be used as rations 
     during the military's war games. ``It's an exotic, tough bun 
     to make,'' Honesty said, but could prove to be a lucrative 
     one now that they've got the military specs down pat. They're 
     also looking into doing private labeling for supermarkets, 
     Beavers said.
       One thing the pair wants to ensure down the road is that 
     the bakery remains a minority venture, Honesty said. Beavers 
     welcomes

[[Page S5026]]

     the opportunity to bring two of his four grown children into 
     the company. And even though they've left their corporate 
     jobs, they still consider themselves a part of McDonald's 
     extended family. A very important leg on that three-legged 
     stool that keeps McDonald's centered.
       ``We've got a passion for McDonald's,'' Honesty said.


                      the bun part of the business

       Name: Best Harvest Bakeries
       Location: Kansas City, Kansas
       Production capacity: 3,000 dozen buns an hour, 17 million 
     dozen buns, or soft rolls, a year
       Shifts: Five days a week for three shifts
       Size: 32,000 square feet
       Employees: about 47
       Customers: 560 McDonald's restaurants, the U.S. Military, 
     which just awarded Best Harvest a contract to make a bun that 
     serves as rations during military ``war games'' (all the 
     oxygen is taken out of the package so the bun stays fresh for 
     three years).
       Goal: ``To become the premier supplier of grain-based 
     products having outstanding quality in a service environment 
     that exceeds our customers' expectations while ensuring that 
     our customers receive unsurpassed value from our 
     relationship.''

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