Sam and Minerva Teeny started the oldest pita bread company in the U.S. (Teeny Foods) in 1964. The company baked and sold “Lebanese bread” out of an abandoned bank building in the Montavilla district of Portland. Sam coined the term “Pocket Bread” which is now a common name for the product in America. Sam was declined for his first bank loan because he planned to put Bible verses on each package of bread. Those Bible verses are still on each package of their Pocket Bread to this day. Sam’s son Rick started working in the business in 1965, at the age of six, as a member of the clean-up crew. Rick worked in virtually every position in the business over those early years.

In 1980, Sam hired a young office worker named Debbi Carson. After much encouragement from both sets of parents, Rick and Debbi (pictured) started dating in 1983 and married in 1984. Rick and his brother Parry purchased the company from their father in 1988, and changed the name of the company from “Middle East Bakeries” to “Teeny Foods”, in honor of their parents. In the early 1980’s the Teenys recruited a team of advisors. This advisory board was instrumental in guiding the company through its transformation over the next 25 years. Teeny Foods continued to grow until 1996 when the company had outgrown their original location. Rick and Debbi bought out Parry and relocated the business to a 24,000 square foot warehouse. They eventually expanded this location to 40,000 square feet. 

In 2001, while Rick was negotiating the price for a new oven, the salesman convinced Rick he needed to quit leasing and build his own facility. After months of prayer and consultation with their management team and advisory board, Rick and Debbi created the vision for a new facility. The building was constructed in 2003/04 with an SBA 504 loan secured from Evergreen Community Development. Due to a railroad strike, critical pieces of machinery and equipment were delayed in delivery. Because of these delays,Teeny Foods actually had to buy product from its competitors to fill orders before the new facility was turning out product. That event took a financial toll on the company.

Having invested everything they had into the expansion put both the company and themselves in a very tight financial position. Rick points to several important lessons learned during that time. “80% growth in one year was too much to manage,” he recalls. Debbi added, “when your largest customer files for bankruptcy, you rethink your sales strategy.” They also learned that some products just are never going to be very profitable and stopped producing them.

Since those experiences, the company has changed its focus. Now Teeny Foods will pass up sales and growth unless it fits into their long term strategy. Their new facility makes Teeny Foods a highly sought-after supplier. Their facility allows them to offer level of quality control that few in the industry can match. Their entire process is monitored by a network of computers, cameras and sensors. Members of their production staff can make real time changes in the production process from 5 workstations along the production line. This covers the mixing, proofing, baking, cooling, freezing, packaging and distribution activities of the company.

They keep a video record of everything from when the flour is mixed with other ingredients to when the product is shipped out the door. A network of 32 cameras retains images for up to two weeks, providing an unprecedented level of internal controls over the entire production, packaging and shipping process. This had an immediate impact on profitability. Soon after implementing this system, one customer called to indicate they only received 21 pallets of product but the invoice said 22 pallets were shipped. Rick was able to pull up the video clip showing all 22 pallets being loaded onto the truck. He sent the video to the customer and asked them to recount. They called back within a few hours reporting they found the 22nd pallet. Debbi indicated that before they implemented the video system, they would have credited the customer’s account for the difference. The video system also logs all activity along the production line providing video evidence of production runs. The company reports that if they can bring a prospective customer to the facility to meet the staff and take a tour, they will get the account about 90% of the time. This high percentage of closing contracts compares with a 10% close rate for off-site sales calls, which is standard for the industry. This illustrates the impact the new facility has on industry insiders.

Rick and Debbi both point to the advisory board as one of the secrets to their success. The advisory board has guided them in expanding their management team. In the years that followed their purchase of the business, they have hired 5 key managers, all of which were identified by the advisory board as necessary to reach the next step in their growth. Today, this management team allows Rick and Debbi the freedom to run the business, instead of the business running them as it did in 1996. They point to the high caliber of employees they hired to fill key positions. Rick can do every job in the company. However, by hiring people who are better than he is in each department, he is allowed to concentrate on the big picture. Today they still manufacture and supply Pocket Bread and have added over 160 varieties of pizza dough, cheese filled breadsticks, Greek pita bread and frozen pre-sheeted dough to their product line-up.

After 38 years and two generations of very successful operations, Rick and Debbi decided to reinvent the company from the ground up. In 2002, they could have sold the business and retired rather comfortably. Instead, they risked all their equity in the business and their personal resources to reposition the company as a leader nationally in their industry. Evergreen Community Development Association and U.S. Small Business Administration is proud to have assisted with the transition from a regional bakery to a high tech national food processor. We are genuinely humbled by the example set by Rick and Debbi Teeny. How many of us have the faith and the courage to set aside our own financial future and risk it all for our friends and our community?