In the mid-1980s, the words guided Wetterau from grocery clerk to store manager when he worked seven-day weeks. And they guided him from breaking with Wal-Mart as a Wetterau executive (he and his team felt duty-bound to independent grocery stores.), to becoming chairman of the board of Golden State Foods, an Irvine-based company that is one of the world’s largest diversified suppliers to McDonald’s, among others. Golden State Foods operates in more than 50 countries. It has more than 3,100 employees. It also is what’s called a “full-line service provider” to dozens of other companies, including Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, KFC and Taco Bell. That means Golden State bakes, processes or produces everything from buns to hamburger patties, from tomatoes to ketchup. Then they distribute. And they service. Oh, the company has annual sales of more than $4 billion. Employee after employee will tell you that the creed set forth first by Wetterau’s father and his team, then by Wetterau himself and his team, guides them.

 Food Processing & Technology