• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Wholesome Foods, Inc.

Wholesome Foods, Inc.

  • About
    • Meet Our Team
    • Careers
    • Community Involvement
    • History
    • Food Safety
    • Wholesome Family Album
  • Order Online
    • Online Store
    • Butcher Packs
    • View Cart
    • My Account
  • Butcher & Deli
    • Shop the Country Deli & Butcher Shop
  • Wholesale
  • Services
    • Transportation & Logistics
    • Virginia’s Best Water
    • Cooking Oil Collection
    • Truck Service Department
    • USDA Processing
    • BBQ Pit
  • News
  • Contact
    • Contact Staff
    • Fill Out Customer Application

History

Click here to view the Wholesome Foods family album of photos!

1964

1964

Dean and Syvilla Pence established Wholesome Foods, Inc. as a home delivery service of poultry, meat and egg products in the Washington D.C. area. They got the idea for the business from Dean’s father, Walter, who for many years had made weekly trips to the D.C. Farmers Market to sell local meat. Dean started from scratch, without any customers. On his first route to D.C. he sold only 9 dozen eggs. He won customers by selling his quality products door-to-door and kept them with his great customer service. It was nothing for him to put in 20 hours a day.

1963-1965

1963-1965

1st company loan – the 100 dollar deal. A ham was the final pay off.

1964

1964

TOP: First trip to the Washington DC farmers market May 1-2, 1964, he lost $68.63 and only sold 9 dozen eggs. BOTTOM: Second trip to the Washington DC farmers market on May 8-9, 1964, he made $7.27.

1964

1964

Weekly profit reports, circa 1964.

1965

1965

Wholesome Foods expanded their delivery area to include parts of Virginia and became the first poultry plant in the area to cut poultry products for local Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. We also became an approved USDA-inspected plant.

1965-1985

1965-1985

We expanded our facilities with the addition of a freezer, processing area, cooler and dry storage space as well as the maintenance shop. Production included large scale cutting and distribution of fresh poultry to include clients such as Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits, Marriott Restaurant Service, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Roy Rogers, Red Barn, and many more.

1986

1986

Wholesome Foods started distributing meat products, beginning with Smithfield and Kunzler.

1990

1990

A full line of western, grain-fed beef was added, delivered directly from the Midwest. In that same year our outlet store, Wholesome Foods Country Deli and Butcher Shoppe, was opened to offer our full line of deli, poultry, beef and pork cuts to the local community and our wholesale customers. Other fine lines of meat, cheese and deli products items were added.    

1992

1992

We established the Old Dominion Brand, our own private label, to include whole and cooked country ham, turkey breast, roast beef, bacon and cheese.

1996

Wholesome Foods was approved to distribute meat and deli items to both Walmart and Food Lion stores.

1998

1998

We celebrated the Grand Opening of our BBQ Pit with Cooter from the Dukes of Hazzard. The pit was built to state-approved specifications to offer clubs and organizations a sanitary facility in which to produce and sell barbeque chicken as a fundraiser.

1999

Wholesome Foods launches a online ordering to offer our line of food items directly to customer homes across the U.S. We are now the internet distributors for Kunzler and Esskay meats.

2000

We expanded our loading dock, adding 10 dock doors for a total of 14, completely enclosing the loading area and adding more loading bays.

2005

2005

We began producing Virginia’s Best All-Natural Artesian Water, bottled at the source in the Shenandoah Valley.

2006

More expansions! This time it was our maintenance shop and loading dock, to give us a total of 13 bays.

2008

Our Virginia’s Best Bottled Water program expanded to include Ukrops, Whole Foods, Walmarts, and other major chains and supermarkets.

2009

We expanded our business to include a dedicated Transportation and Logistics division, the natural progression of our delivery services.

2011

2011

Our outlet store expanded to include a full-service kitchen specializing in Old Dominion Fresh Fried Chicken and fresh-ground handmade burgers.

2013

2013

Using our east coast distribution routes, we added a service to collect restaurant cooking oil waste. The used oil is recycled into biofuel and animal feeds.

2014

2014

Mirroring our own needs for reliable fleet maintenance, we opened our Service Department for autos, heavy trucks, and trailer repairs.

2017

2017

Completed construction of the Wholesome Energy facility on our property and began construction of a 20,000 square foot truck maintenance and repair shop.

2020

2020

Wholesome Foods in now producing the Old Dominion Brand Country Ham Sausage. Click the image for more info.

2021

2021

We added USDA processing for beef, pork and lamb, with USDA Label and Custom-Exempt (not for sale).

2021

2021

We opened our second retail store in Woodstock, VA.

Footer

1-800-723-6637 ext 2


986 South Ox Road
Edinburg, VA 22824

sales@wholesomefoodsinc.com
(540) 984-9337 (fax)
Monday – Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am – 1:00pm

Woodstock Retail Location:
465 W Reservoir Rd
Woodstock, VA 22664
1-800-723-6637
Monday – Friday, 10:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday: 9:00am – 3:00pm

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Additional Resources

  • Weekly Delivery Area
  • BBQ Pit
  • Virginia’s Best Water
  • Cooking Oil Collection
  • Food Safety
  • Transportation & Logistics
  • Community Involvement
  • Careers
  • Customer Application
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2023 Wholesome Foods, Inc. All Rights Reserved - Small Business Websites by 5.12 Design Lab - Admin

Virginia Clean Cities