T

he year was 1951.  In response to the needs of local farmers, Maplevale Farms was started as a sole proprietorship by Norman G. Neckers as a custom meat-cutting operation.  Gradually, Norman became involved in the processing and selling of many different cuts of Beef and Veal to various restaurants as far north as Buffalo, NY.  In 1958, Kenneth B. Neckers joined up with his father Norman.  As the years passed, more and more of the meat processing began switching to the large emerging plants in the Midwest with names like Iowa Beef Processors (IBP).  Seeing the writing on the wall, their focus began to change from a meat only distributor to one carrying other restaurant items as well.  In 1973, Maplevale Farms became a member of Nugget Distributors of America, a cooperative of approximately 100 other food distributors, and brought in its first cases of French fries and tomato catsup. 

Ken & Barb Neckers (middle) at the Offical Ground Breaking

In 1985, as business expanded, Maplevale Farms outgrew its original warehouse in French Creek, NY and moved to its current location 8 miles away in Clymer, NY.  Building a modern 35,000 square foot warehouse and office facilities in what was once a corn field, it suddenly found the necessary room to grow (the building was subsequently doubled in size in 1996).  Over the next 15 years and with the help of its 125 hard-working associates, Maplevale Farms has grown by over 700%.

In 2002, Nugget Distributors of America merged with Unipro Foodservice.  Combined with over 650 other mostly independently owned food distributors, Maplevale Farms is now a part of an organization with over 58 billion in purchasing synergies.

Today, purchasing from over 300 manufacturers and offering over 7500 products, Maplevale Farms has gradually grown from its humble beginnings into one of the Tri-State area’s leading foodservice distributors.