Around the turn of the century, Mama Joe and Papa Joe Korkames came to America. In 1929 they settled in Fort Smith, Arkansas where they opened a small café, they named "The Famous Café". The café was a popular hangout for the area's high school students and other youth from around the city. The kids would often remark that "The Famous Café was famous for it's chili". In fact, chili became so popular that Papa Joe began packaging it in one-pound hand wrapped bricks to sell to his customers at the café. At that point, Papa Joe decided to market the chili for retail sales in grocery stores around the state. Sales were great and Papa Joe established… "The Famous Chili Company" in 1935. After
Papa Joe's death, his son Joseph Edward Korkames (picture on left)
took over the Fort Smith operation. To keep pace with the ever-growing
demand for Famous Brand Chili products, Joe Korkames automated
the Fort Smith facility to mass-produce the Famous and 4 Star
brands of chili in a boil-in bag for easy preparation. Along with
the retail brands, the Famous Chili Company has an institutional/
restaurant line of great tasting Heat & Serve products.
The conveniently packaged Famous Premium Homestyle Beef Chili,
Famous Hot Dog Chili Sauce and Famous Brand Taco Filling
are ideal for preparing many Mexican and Southwestern recipes.
Quality Wholesome Products are a timeless tradition at Famous
Chili backed by decades of family pride. Today, the Company is
still owned and operated by the Korkames Family, now in their
3rd generation. Famous Brand Chili is still made using
the time-tested recipe that Mama Joe and Papa Joe used to start
the company 75 plus years ago. |
