~History
Andy’s began in the basement of Reuben “Andy” and Katherine Anderson’s home, where Reuben combined a love of cooking with a knack for blending ingredients. Through trial and error they perfected their first product, barbecue sauce, which they would use for summer cookouts and work events. Friends and relatives loved their barbecue sauce and would say, “You ought to put this on the market
.” The couple listened to their advice and started making samples for their co-workers to solicit feedback. They later began calling on local grocery stores to encourage them to purchase their products. In 1983, Andy’s moved from the basement of the Anderson home to a rented facility at 1931 Washington Avenue near downtown St. This began the process of growing from a small, two product, home- based business to a nationally known firm. Although Andy’s began with barbecue sauce, the company discontinued the product in 1990 to concentrate on dry blends of seasoned breading and Seasoned Salt. The first dry blend of seasoned breading product was the Yellow Fish breading, which was the actual breading that Mrs. Anderson used for her fish dinners and summer fish fry’s. The next dry blends were the Red Fish and Mild Chicken breading. These four basic products have now increased to eleven products. By the spring of 1988, Andy’s had outgrown the Washington Avenue facility. All operations were moved to the newly constructed 13,500-sq.ft. facility at 2829 Chouteau Avenue, purchased by Andy’s Seasoning, Inc. Reuben Anderson passed away suddenly in 1996. Refusing to abandon the dream that she and her husband had created, Katherine Anderson retired from her job with the city of St. Louis and enrolled in an entrepreneurial program at Saint Louis University. Already a multi-million dollar company when she took over, Andy’s Seasoning quadrupled in revenue under Mrs. In 2006, Andy’s expanded the facility by an additional 15,000 sq. to include additional warehouse space, office space and a new R&D lab. Anderson passed away in November of 2011. Having served on the company’s Board of Directors and as Director of Operations for many years, her son, Larry W. Lee, became President and CEO of the company.
