The Litehouse Story

Still owned by its original founders, Litehouse Foods shines as an example of a company whose main source of fuel is still the passion that got it started.

Litehouse's history began in 1949 in a restaurant in Spokane, Washington. It was there that Edward Hawkins, Sr. developed a unique bleu cheese salad dressing by blending just the right amounts of bleu cheese, mayonnaise, buttermilk and fresh spices. In 1958, Hawkins bought the Litehouse restaurant in historic Hope, Idaho, where he featured his fresh salad dressings alongside other homemade specialties.

In 1963, during a winter slump in business, Hawkins turned to selling his popular dressings in quart jars to his restaurant customers. The idea caught on quickly, and soon the entire Hawkins family was helping.

Edward's sons, Doug and Edward Jr., packaged the dressing (which was made in large soup kettles in the restaurant kitchen) and distributed it to local grocery stores. As the Hawkins developed business relationships with produce managers, the Litehouse name grew, and the company expanded. By the late 1980's, Litehouse had added a foodservice division and had become #3 in sales in the refrigerated dressing category in the United States.

On July 1, 1997, Litehouse merged with Chadalee Farms, Inc. of Lowell, Michigan. The focus of Chadalee Farms was the foodservice industry. By confining product growth to top of the line, shelf stable items and offering custom manufacturing, the Chadalee Farms label had become synonymous with "superior quality".

Litehouse is now stronger than ever, utilizing two production and distribution facilities to service their accounts. Litehouse continues to expand nationally into the East Coast and Southern markets as part of a very controlled five year growth plan. They currently have over 400 employees and their products are found in the produce, meat and deli departments of major grocery store chains across the US. Litehouse's foodservice products can be found in your favorite restaurants, airlines, schools, and health facilities.

Litehouse remains a family-owned company, with a corporate culture that is cooperative, customer focused and dedicated to quality.Distributors vary by region. Contact Litehouse directly for the distributor in your area. Litehouse East 1-800-866-5911, Litehouse West 1-800-669-3169.