FREDERICK – A family-owned food processing business here builds full meals for thousands of area residents served by senior citizens programs and various institutions, utilizing resources for various Oklahoma-owned vendors the meals are sold to for distribution to customers.
Grannas is located in a portion of the former Alco discount store on North Main, which also houses the Frederick Pharmacy. Grannas is also undergoing an expansion with construction nearing completion on a new and larger freezer space of 3,500 square-feet that will adjoin the existing building to the south.
The firm is owned by James Bennight, chief operating officer, and his wife, Sharla, who purchased it in 2012. Grannas was established in Bessie in Washita County in 2003. In July of 2019, Bennight opened the facility in Frederick as an expansion of the firm while retaining the original and identical plant at Bessie.
“My wife and I live here in Frederick and this building came up for sale a few years ago,” James Bennight said. “We knew we’d like to have something here in Frederick too.”
Other family members also work for the company. James and Sharla Bennight’s daughter, Sarah, serves as marketing director, and their son, Jacob, is the plant manager. Grannas has a total of 30 staff members on the payroll – 15 employees each at Frederick and Bessie.
Grannas specializes in the production of frozen food dinners while are then sold primarily to institutional customers such as senior citizen centers, nursing homes and hospitals.
“We have 50 different varieties of meals,” James Bennight said. Those varieties include selections of chicken, beef and pork; and include a vegetable and fruit selection.
“It’s (packaged in) a three-compartment tray and designed to give you some sort of protein and two sides,” he said.
Utilizing food products purchased from Oklahoma-based suppliers Sysco and Ben E. Keith, Grannas manufactures the meals and resells them to Sysco and Keith, which then sell the meals to those commercial customers.
“The meals are sold (to customers) across Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas,” James Bennight said. “We buy all our raw materials from Sysco and Ben E. Keith. Being Oklahoma-based, we try to buy most of what we need from (vendors) within the state.”
James Bennight said that Grannas also manufactures shelf-stable meals that do not require refrigeration as many homebound senior citizens do not have freezer space. He said that one box has the capacity of seven meals and include snacks, juice and milk that does not require refrigeration.
“Our packages are not fancy and not intended for retail sales,” he said. Bennight emphasized that all meals manufactured at Grannas in Frederick and Bessie are inspected by the USDA and FDA.
Both locations include a prep room where all items to be cooked are prepared with added steps to prevent contamination in the kitchen. “We prepare 3,000 meals a day at each location,” he said.
FUTURE PLANS
James Bennight said that Grannas is looking to expand its business to pick up additional customers following the completion of the expanded freezer space. He said that additional business may include halal meals to Muslims who are serving time in federal prisons.
For further information about Grannas operations, visit www.grannasfoods.com.