In 1954, Edith and Emerich Ressler started a prepared foods business in a rented butcher shop in Philadelphia. They had only one employee and manufactured salads and chopped liver products. The business slowly prospered as the Resslers developed more products to satisfy the needs of the post World War II generation.
In 1956, after securing the major supermarket retailer in Philadelphia at the time as an account, Mrs. Ressler's moved to a slightly larger location on Naudain Street with more manufacturing capacity. They also increased the number of people in their company to five. By reputation alone, the business continued to grow beyond that location's confines and the Resslers invested in a building on North Bailey Street and watched their employee ranks swell to 15.
It was at this time that Mrs. Ressler's expanded its product line and started to cook meat products for the supermarket deli using old-world style recipes. The nature of the business required more and more manufacturing space. In 1968, the Resslers, who were committed to Philadelphia, purchased a building on West Oxford Street with plenty of room for future growth, although upon purchase the Resslers leased part of the building to the Armour Company.
By 1973 Mrs. Ressler's operations expanded to the entire West Oxford Street facility, and the business continued its positive growth trend. However, in 1982, tragedy struck and a fire seriously damaged the plant. Due to their industrious nature, the Resslers invested back into the plant and modernized the facility with state of the art processing equipment.
Over the next 15 years, Mrs. Ressler's Food Products continued to grow and diversify its product line. Although the original salads and chopped liver that propelled this company to success were eventually discontinued, the deli line expanded to include a full line of Beef deli items under the "Mrs. Ressler's" Brand and Poultry deli items under the "Harvest" Brand.
In the summer of 1997, the Company once again outgrew its confines and developed a plan for expansion of the West Oxford Street location. The Resslers then expanded its facility of 39,000 sq. feet (for manufacturing, cooling, and general offices) to almost 60,000 square feet. The improved facility opened up in January 1999 and included increased manufacturing capability as well as new general offices and a new employee parking lot to accommodate an average number of employees that had increased to nearly 75 people.
