Peer Foods was founded in 1867, and with approximately $100 million dollars in annual sales, we are big enough to meet your production needs and small enough to give you the personal attention you deserve. Our customer list includes some of the highest profile names in the industry including Honeybaked Ham/ Heavenly Ham, customersFriendly’s Restaurants, Cheesecake Factory, Schwan’s Foods, Market Day, Sysco, Reinhart, US Foodservice, and several private label customers. Peer Foods also produces for other major meat companies under custom agreements. Unlike the conglomerates in our industry, all product is produced in one central Midwest location so that all products can ship on the same truck. This provides simplicity in ordering and reduced freight charges to our customers. Peer Foods is in the primary business of cooking, smoking, and roasting all of the major proteins (pork, beef, chicken and turkey). Much of our product line is custom manufactured to meet our customers' specifications. We use the old world traditions in many of our products, yet they are produced with up-to-date technology to make the best available products at the most efficient price. We welcome plant visits to showcase our abilities. Food safety is paramount in our industry therefore, our plant undergoes several audits per year. Our food safety record is impeccable. Our Quality Control team is well trained and works directly with our on premises USDA inspectors to ensure the quality and food safety of our products. Peer Foods puts the value in the products, not in fancy corporate jets, large corporate offices, razzle-dazzle annual reports or big marketing budgets. Our competitors have to incorporate those costs into their products, increasing the cost to the customer. Our organization is responsive to our customer’s needs and problems. All requests are taken seriously and reaction and follow up time is short. You can plan on having a dedicated team working on your behalf. Give us a call today to see how we can meet your customization needs!
With the emergence of the Union Stockyards came one family's quest to provide high quality meats to the general public. Our heritage begins with Christian Buehler Sr.'s immigration from Stuttgart, Germany, in 1849. He first settled in Philadelphia and then moved to Chicago. A meat-cutter by trade, Christian entered the meat-packing industry in the 1860s. Using his meat-cutting expertise and innovative spirit, Christian Sr. started his own pork-packing and general butchering operation in Peoria, IL. He became renowned in the meat-packing trade for his method of preserving meats, using a unique refrigeration system. Christian Sr. shared his knowledge of his chosen craft with his children.
Inheriting their father's tenacity and talent, three of Christian Sr.'s children formed the Buehler Brothers Meat Markets in Chicago, circa 1894. The brothers chose Chicago in order to have easier access to the Union Stockyards. This enabled Buehler Brothers to offer the freshest and choicest cuts of meat. The Buehler Markets grew exponentially and by 1915, there were numerous Buehler Markets throughout the Central and Midwestern states.
We use the old world traditions in many of our products, yet they are produced with up-to-date technology to make the best available products at the most efficient price. We welcome plant visits to showcase our abilities.Food safety is paramount in our industry therefore, our plant undergoes several audits per year. Our food safety record is mpeccable. Our Quality Control team is well trained and works directly with our on premises USDA inspectors to ensure the quality and food safety of our products.
Buehler Brothers eventually opened its own packing facility in 1925 near the booming Union Stockyards. The plant's primary purpose was to provide a variety of premium meats for the Buehler Markets. In 1944, the plant's name was changed from Buehler Brothers to Peer Food Products. This was done in order to distinguish itself from the meat markets. This change enabled the manufacturing facility to sell products wholesale. Throughout the years, Peer Foods has offered a variety of products, including Spanish olives, pie dough, and salad dressings. These items have since been removed from the product mix in order for Peer to focus on its area of expertise - smoked and roasted meats.
In keeping with the spirit of the Buehler ingenuity, today's Peer Foods strives to provide cutting-edge products to the foodservice industry. Using the same traditional natural hickory and hardwood cooking methods that we used in 1925, today's Peer Foods offers a diverse line of smoked and roasted products that will satisfy every daypart need. Peer's evolution from supplying yesterday's Midwestern meat markets to servicing today's national foodservice industry has been a long and interesting journey - but one constant has remained: