Lester Lawrence - CEO and Chairman
Lester Lawrence brings over 40 years of industry experience to his position as CEO and Chairman of Lawrence Foods, Inc.
Lester began his career at Lawrence Foods working summer jobs as a truck driver and material handler in high school and college. He received his BA degree with honors in Economics from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio and an MBA from the University of Chicago, in addition to two post graduate years financed by a fellowship in the business school PhD program. He withdrew from the GSB in 1969 upon joining Lawrence Foods as Director of Operations.
Lawrence Foods began as a partnership between Lester’s father and grandfather in 1917 as a nutmeat distributor to Chicago area bakeries. Over the intervening 90 years, the company has grown into a well-established manufacturer of fruit fillings, glazes, icings, jellies, preserves and nutrition and snack bar components, supplying a broad cross-section of food manufacturing, distribution and retail sales throughout the United States.
During his full-time years at Lawrence Foods, Lester has managed the company’s transition from foodservice distributor to a pure manufacturer. In 1987, he engineered the sale of Lawrence Food’s foodservice distribution business to Sysco Corporation, along with a comprehensive supply relationship, which continues to the present.
During the term of his career to date, Lester has held positions on the board of directors of Nugget Distributors, a national distributor network, the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), first as Vice Chairman and then as Chairman of the Board, and on the executive committee of the Board of Governors of the North American Wholesale Grocers Association.