Rudolph Foods Company Snapshot
Whatever you want to call them -- pork rinds, pork skins, cracklins, chicharrones, bacon rinds -- this company has got your fix. Rudolph Foods is the world's largest producer of pork rinds and related snacks, producing more than 100 million pounds per year from plants in the US (Ohio, Georgia, Texas, and California) and Brazil. The company sells the pork treats under such brands as Rudolph's, Pepe's, Rudy's, Lee's Pig Skins, Smithfield Farms, Southern Recipe, and Grandpa John's. John and Mary Rudolph started the business in 1955 as a peanut roaster. After selling the business to Beatrice Foods in 1966, the Rudolph family re-acquired control of the company in 1987.