"Duane Roberts made millions off a food he was initially wholly ignorant of: the humble burrito. It was the 1950s, and his family owned a small meat wholesaler called the Butcher Boy that sold patties to local restaurants, including one of the first operating McDonald's, a location in San Bernardino. As the fast food chain and other burger joints grew in popularity, the family brainstormed other products they could manufacture, Roberts recalled in a 2007 interview with the Orange County Register."
"But the entrepreneurial Roberts went on to turn that seed of an idea into a bean and beef burrito that could be sold frozen and then deep-fried. The story goes that the Riverside businessman experimented in the kitchen for two days straight to get the burrito right. Its sales helped expand the family business from one plant with 60 workers to six plants with 1,400 workers."
Duane Roberts developed a frozen bean-and-beef burrito that could be deep-fried, transforming a small family meat wholesaler into a large manufacturing business. The product's sales expanded the operation from one plant with 60 workers to six plants with 1,400 workers. The company produced approximately one million burritos per day and generated about $80 million in annual sales at the time of its 1980 sale to Central Soya Inc. Roberts used his business success to enter Inland Empire Republican politics and became known locally as owner of the Mission Inn. He died at age 88. He served in the United States military.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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