Interior of Worthington Foods Plant

This is a compressor for the production of frozen foods at the Worthington Foods plant on Proprietors Road. The man on the left is Bernath (B.J.) Knecht, former Chief Engineer of Worthington Foods. Frozen foods were introduced into the Worthington Foods product line in the 1950s. The company was the first to offer frozen meat analog foods.

The innovative technique of spinning soy fiber, developed by scientist and consultant to Worthington Foods, Robert Boyer led to the addition of new products which had a texture similar to meat (White Chick, Beeflike, Prosage®, Stripples® and Holiday Roast). These new products did not can well and developing the line as frozen foods brought a new challenge to the company. Trucks equipped to deliver frozen foods had to be purchased and some stores needed freezers, which were supplied by Worthington Foods.