Recognizing Soules Food on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

89(R) SR 552 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 552

WHEREAS, Soules Food in Tyler celebrated its 50th

anniversary in April 2025; and

WHEREAS, The business was founded in 1975 as Country Jim's

Meats by partners John Soules Sr., J. O. Thompson, and L. F.

Thompson, and it initially produced raw ground beef patties and

cutlets that were delivered directly to stores and customers;

after a decade, John Soules Sr. purchased the company's

controlling shares and renamed it John Soules Foods; he brought

on Mark Soules as its first and only salesman two years later, and

the enterprise soon expanded its frozen offerings to include

fajitas; it continued to see a number of significant developments

throughout the 1990s, including the introduction of fully cooked

meats, and by 2000, it had begun to stock its products in grocery

stores across the country; and

WHEREAS, John Soules Foods had gone on to become the

nation's top seller of cooked fajitas by 2004, the same year that

its annual sales grew to surpass $100 million; in 2010, Mark

Soules and John Soules Jr. took the mantle of co-chief executive

officers, and John Soules Sr. assumed the role of chair of the

board; four years later, the company acquired ProView Foods in

Gainesville, Georgia, and it won the Value-Added Products

Marketer of the Year and the Top Processor Sales Volume Increase

awards from Certified Angus Beef; as the business continued to

expand, it added a production facility in Valley, Alabama, in

2021; and

WHEREAS, Today, the company remains the country's top

producer of beef and chicken fajitas, and its products are

delivered to retail locations, food service distributors,

restaurants, and school nutrition programs nationwide; moreover,

its 50th anniversary marked its transition to being called Soules

Food, reflecting its new identity as it moves into the future;

and

WHEREAS, For half a century, Soules Food has contributed to

the economic prosperity of the East Texas area and beyond, and

the foundation of good corporate citizenship on which it is built

will help to ensure its existence well into the future; now,

therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th

Legislature, hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of Soules

Food and extend to the company's leadership and staff sincere

best wishes for continued success; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be

prepared for Soules Food as an expression of high regard from the

Texas Senate.

Hughes

Alvarado

Hagenbuch

Middleton

Bettencourt

Hall

Miles

Birdwell

Hancock

Nichols

Blanco

Hinojosa of Hidalgo

Parker

Campbell

Hinojosa of Nueces

Paxton

Cook

Huffman

Perry

Creighton

Johnson

Schwertner

Eckhardt

King

Sparks

Flores

Kolkhorst

West

Gutierrez

Menéndez

Zaffirini

Patrick, President of the Senate

________________________________

President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the

above Resolution was adopted by

the Senate on May 22, 2025.

________________________________

Secretary of the Senate

________________________________

Member, Texas Senate