Bush Brothers and Company is a family-owned corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

 based in Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

, best known for its baked beans

Baked beans

Baked beans is a dish containing beans, sometimes baked but, despite the name, usually stewed, in a sauce. Most commercial canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans – a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris – in a sauce. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, a tomato...

 and more than forty other related products. It operates plants in Augusta, Wisconsin

Augusta, Wisconsin

Augusta is a city in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,550 at the 2010 census. The city is located entirely within the Town of Bridge Creek.-Geography:Augusta is located at ....

, and Chestnut Hill, Tennessee

Chestnut Hill, Tennessee

Chestnut Hill is a small unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States. It is the site of a large Bush Brothers and Company cannery. Chestnut Hill School, part of the Jefferson County School System, was formerly located in the community, but closed due to lack of enrollment....

.

History

The company was founded in 1908 by A.J. (Andrew Jackson) Bush, along with his oldest sons Fred and Claude, as a tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

 cannery. The company was incorporated

Incorporation (business)

Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...

 in 1922 and expanded quickly by adding three packing plants. It prospered until 1943, when it faced a setback by the Tennessee Valley Authority

Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...

, who seized the company's major plant by eminent domain

Eminent domain

Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...

, and flooded all the Bush farmland. One year later, the company purchased the Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

-based Blytheville Canning Company.

Recent years

Over the years, the company has slowly expanded, finally reaching nationwide distribution

Food distribution

Food distribution, a method of distributing or transporting food or drink from one place to another, is a very important factor in public nutrition. Where it breaks down, famine, malnutrition or illness can occur...

 in 1993 and Bush's products have become the nation's top selling baked bean brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

. "Bush's Original Baked Beans" is based on a secret family recipe that the company guards closely. The company's recognizable advertisements feature company spokesman Jay Bush and his Golden Retriever

Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...

 named Duke, who frequently offers to sell the secret family recipe. Jay Bush is the great grandson of founder A.J. Bush, as are brothers Kristian Bush

Kristian Bush

Kristian Merrill Bush is an American folk rock and country musician. From 1990 to 2001, Kristian was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim along with Andrew Hyra...

 of the country music group Sugarland and Brandon Bush who is the touring keyboardist for Sugarland.

External links

• Official Site