1982
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Shaping The Future of Food™ since 1982.
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Three generations of family.
10,000+
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Available in over 10,000 locations in the US.
3
core product categories:
cooked patties
SHREDDED & Pulled
Breakfast PATTIES
meatballs
HOT DOGS & Corn dogs
beefless burgers
Veggie burgers
breakfast Links
breaded
Crumbles
tacos & burritos
sandwiches & sliders
bowls
Bites
kettle-cooked
what we do:
product
development
We develop ideas into commercially successful food products made and delivered on a national scale.
supply chain
managment
We prioritize local and optimize sourcing, transportation, storage, procurement and delivery of raw materials and finished goods.
Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance
We operate a data-driven and science-backed food safety system built on decades of industry-leading expertise and continuous on-site third party oversight.
manufacturing
We make fresh and frozen foods for some of the largest and most successful food brands from our company-owned facilities in Southern California and North Texas.
Company-owned national facilities
Our national facilities are FDA and USDA-inspected, SQF Level 2 and Organic Certified. We make and deliver fresh and frozen food in close proximity to where our raw materials are grown and raised.
Three Generations of Plant-based
We have three generations of plant protein experience. Since the 1980's, Don Lee Farms® has made blended proteins, including first-to-market burgers made with extruded plant-based proteins made to mimic the taste, texture and nutritional profile of beef. Today, we continue to drive industry trends with continuous innovation of our beefless and chickenless proteins under our Better Than Beef® and Better Than Chicken® brands and under brands of our partners.
a family
food
company
With beginnings
in the late 1940’s
Larry's Foods was founded by Larry in the 1940's. Larry's manufactured and distributed sandwiches during and after World War II. Donald, one of Larry's sons, joined the family's entrepreneurial operation in the 1970's, becoming production manager at their plant in Gardena, California.
Larry's expanded their capabilities, becoming one of the first to make, flash freeze and deliver fully cooked burgers to national supermarkets and school districts. Larry sold the pioneering company almost a decade later, giving Donald an opportunity to continue the family legacy and start his own. Donald founded Don Lee Farms in 1982 in a small rented building in Marina Del Rey, California.
By the the mid-1980’s, the business expanded and established its current headquarters in Los Angeles, adding a production facility and an additional warehouse facility nearby. In the 2000's, Donald's sons, the third generation in the food industry, joined. During that decade, the company developed decades-long partnerships with school districts, club stores and some of the world's biggest and most successful food brands.
The family celebrated their company's 20th anniversary and launched first-to-market vegetarian and plant-based foods. In the 2010's, Don Lee Farms expanded its national footprint with an additional production facility in the Dallas, Texas area, achieved Organic Certification and launched private-label and branded products in over 10,000 markets. Today, we're Shaping The Future of Food™.
Donald, Founder and President
Don Lee Farms
food safety
Food safety and the health and safety of our employees is our highest priority. We’re committed to making safe and wholesome foods using data-driven food safety programs and processes. Our food safety system is driven by technology, decades of experience and a large food safety and quality assurance staff working with our facilities and on-site regulators. Our facilities operate under USDA and FDA regulations.