J. Tim Evans,, one of the founders of Bob Evans,
Inc, restaurant chain, has died at
Gallipolis, Ohio.
He began working at Evans Packing Co, in 1953, a
plant owned by his father. Bob Evans was a first cousin who asked him to
produce sausages.
Together with their uncle Emerson and three friends, they launched Bob
Evans Farms, Inc.
Bob started the company to help his hog-farming business survive price
cycles.
The business did well and then they started a restaurant.
In an article for Playboar magazine, Evans said the restaurant chain didn’t do much to improve
markets for his hog farms.
The same article featured interviews with other hog farmers trying to
get into the restaurant business to improve their chances of survival. Ross Shantz opened a hamburger
restaurant in Waterloo and the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board opened a
restaurant in downtown Toronto.
Both gave up those ventures after realizing they did little or nothing
to improve hog farming.
