THE HISTORY OF GERBER & SONS,
Founded in 1905, Gerber & Sons has withstood the test of time by providing high-quality locally manufactured livestock and poultry feeds to customers in east central Ohio. Today, under the direction of Mike Gerber of Baltic, who represents the fourth generation of the Gerber family to manage the company, Gerber & Sons continues to be a successful enterprise.
Located on the same site as the present day Gerber & Sons at Baltic, The Seth Gerber Co. began operation as a dealer and distributor of seeds and fertilizers for area farmers. The company grew by providing a market for local producers to sell harvested seeds and grains.
By the early 1920s, the company had grown in volume and stature and capitalized on the local railroad line at Baltic, loading and transporting railcars of bagged, locally grown seeds out of the area.Seth’s son, Percy, joined the business, which became “Seth Gerber and Son”. In 1924, Percy became the owner. He soon began offering grain milling services to customers who wished to feed homegrown grains to their animals. Feed mills were relatively unheard of at the time because farmers did not feed much grain to their production stock. What small amounts of grains they fed, they processed themselves and livestock depended mostly upon seasonal pastures for the bulk of their nutrition.
With the advent of university research into animal nutrition and the implementation of nutritional recommendations these traditions began to change. Percy Gerber’s decision to offer feed milling services along with providing nutritional recommendations was a revolutionary concept and it provided the impetus on which future generations of Gerber’s would build.
His mill was the stepping stone to the manufacture of a complete line of livestock and poultry feeds. The trade name Bob White Feeds was adopted and continues today.In 1934, Percy Gerber’s eldest son Bob joined the company. The business continued to grow, and with improvements in design and manufacturing, Percy and Bob ushered in the first modern era of feed manufacturing.
In 1953, upon the death of Percy, Bob was joined by his brother Dean and a corporation was formed and registered under the name of Gerber & Sons Inc., Manufacturers of Bob White Feeds.
Under Dean’s leadership, the sale of manufactured feeds continued to increase and more improvements were made. New pelleting operations were installed, ingredient capacity expanded, more loadout bins were installed, storage facilities purchased, garden and animal health supplies expanded, and a nearby house was converted into the main office building and a retail sales area.
With this growth came a need for an expanded sales force and specialized mill operation management. In 1967, Bob’s son Gary was hired as a salesman and was the first member of the fourth generation of Gerber’s to work for the company. He is now vice-president of the firm. Dean’s son Mike is president and general manager.
The 1970’s brought more growth. Mill operations were running at near capacity and improvements continued to be made. Broiler feed for chickens represented the largest production category and total tonnage was running about 30,000 tons per year. Then disaster struck.
On August 24, 1974, fire destroyed the building that housed the complete pellet milling operations. Area firefighters were able to save the custom grinding operations, but the feed manufacturing and pelleting operations were a total loss. Immediate cleanup ensued, and the family made the decision to rebuild. Construction of a new, modern mill began in 1975, and the mill was up and running by December of that year. The second modern era of manufacturing quality Bob White Feeds had begun.Since then, the company has continued to expand, and today the independent, regional feed manufacturer produces more than 85,000 tons of feed per year.