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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Soules Food in Tyler celebrated its 50th anniversary |
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in April 2025; and |
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WHEREAS, The business was founded in 1975 as Country Jim's |
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Meats by partners John Soules Sr., J. O. Thompson, and L. F. |
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Thompson, and it initially produced raw ground beef patties and |
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cutlets that were delivered directly to stores and customers; after |
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a decade, John Soules Sr. purchased the company's controlling |
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shares and renamed it John Soules Foods; he brought on Mark Soules |
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as its first and only salesman two years later, and the enterprise |
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soon expanded its frozen offerings to include fajitas; it continued |
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to see a number of significant developments throughout the 1990s, |
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including the introduction of fully cooked meats, and by 2000, it |
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had begun to stock its products in grocery stores across the |
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country; and |
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WHEREAS, John Soules Foods had gone on to become the nation's |
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top seller of cooked fajitas by 2004, the same year that its annual |
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sales grew to surpass $100 million; in 2010, Mark Soules and John |
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Soules Jr. took the mantle of co-chief executive officers, and John |
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Soules Sr. assumed the role of chair of the board; four years later, |
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the company acquired ProView Foods in Gainesville, Georgia, and it |
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won the Value-Added Products Marketer of the Year and the Top |
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Processor Sales Volume Increase awards from Certified Angus Beef; |
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as the business continued to expand, it added a production facility |
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in Valley, Alabama, in 2021; and |
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WHEREAS, Today, the company remains the country's top |
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producer of beef and chicken fajitas, and its products are |
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delivered to retail locations, food service distributors, |
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restaurants, and school nutrition programs nationwide; moreover, |
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its 50th anniversary marked its transition to being called Soules |
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Food, reflecting its new identity as it moves into the future; and |
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WHEREAS, For half a century, Soules Food has contributed to |
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the economic prosperity of the East Texas area and beyond, and the |
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foundation of good corporate citizenship on which it is built will |
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help to ensure its existence well into the future; now, therefore, |
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be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 89th Texas Legislature |
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hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of Soules Food and extend |
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to the company's leadership and staff sincere best wishes for |
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continued success; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Soules Food as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas Senate. |