SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Carl Hilmar Guenther aimed to serve his own little community when he founded Pioneer Flour Mills next to the San Antonio River in the 1850s.
Today his descendants are doing that and much more.Pioneer Flour Mills, which recently resurrected its corporate name, C.H. Guenther & Son Inc., touts itself as the oldest continually owned family flour-milling operation in the country, and it still makes the basic grain products it has turned out for generations.
But the privately held company has also become a major producer of biscuit and gravy mixes, and fills niches in other modern-day food markets.
"In order to stay in business 150 years, you must be competitive," said Rich DeGregorio, president and chief executive officer.
The producer of Pioneer brand wheat and corn flour, the company also makes White Lily, a soft, white flour popular in food stores in the South and sold nationally through the catalog of the upscale Williams-Sonoma kitchen stores.
Guenther & Son acquired White Lily, based in Knoxville, Tenn., about five years ago. The company also operates Pioneer Frozen Foods in Duncanville, acquired in 1987.
Its San Antonio plant is just south of downtown and can be recognized by its old, tall white grain elevator, a landmark in the historic King William district.
In all, the company employs about 800 workers.
Although professional managers like DeGregorio have been hired from other food companies, Guenther & Son considers itself a family business. Dozens of Guenther's descendants remain shareholders.
It has gained a national reputation in the food-service industry as a supplier to restaurant chains and is one of the nation's largest white gravy producers, DeGregorio said.
In a typical year, Guenther & Son processes nearly 3 million bushels of wheat and corn.
"That's a lot of grain. That's a lot of rail cars," he said.
And that's a long way from the simple mill Guenther established in 1851, first in Fredericksburg next to Live Oak Creek, then at the San Antonio River site in 1859.
Carl Hilmar Guenther was part of an established family in Germany but apparently sought the thrill of making it on his own in America.
"The guy was an adventurer, just to leave a family situation when they were already successful," DeGregorio said. "In many ways, quite the American story."