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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Starts out okay ... loses ALL steam in the 2nd half,
By
This review is from: J. R. Simplot: A billion the hard way (Hardcover)
When I first moved to Idaho in 1998 that's all I heard about was J.R. Simplot. He's not only Idaho's wealthiest resident, he also owns more private land in the state than anyone else. And his name is everywhere: There's the Simplot Games, Simplot Stadium, and Simplot Center for Decision Support, and the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy, just to name a few.
I write these things to let people unfamiliar with the man know what a giant he is in this state. He's is--and ought to be--an inspiration to many. But how did he get wealthy? Obviously he set his sights on something and then went out and got it. So, in hopes of learning how J.R. Simplot thought, I bought this book . . I wanted to learn about how he made decisions, how he managed, and how he overcame the obstacles that each of us face. Sadly, this book offers no such insight. It opens promising enough, with a background on the man's early childhood and humble beginnings. I thought this was going to be an excellent springboard into how Simplot used those difficulties to develop his business principles and decision making processes. Alas -- notta. No such luck. About midway though I had serious doubts I was going to get what I wanted from this book. Three quarters of the way through I was convinced. It ended up feeling like a collection of inert, generic "I remember when" stories with no meat just to have "x" number of pages in a book. Nothing to chew on. Nothing to digest. The fact that the book was published here in Idaho is even more of a let down. I would think that an Idaho-based publisher would insist on more 'umph' to ensure that such a handsome, well-bound book about the state's most famous resident would be beefier in its content. Two stars ... but only because it gave an interesting look into Simplot's early years.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Potato king,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: J. R. Simplot: A billion the hard way (Hardcover)
"J.R. Simplot: A billion the hard way," by Louie Attebury, Caxton Press, Caldwell, ID, 2000. This 251-page hardback is a biography of Jack Simplot, founder of the J.R. Simplot Company, best known for its development of frozen french fries and numerous related potato products.
The Simplot family is of French origin. The original ancestor arrived in the US in 1822, in Parish, NY, married, settled in Illinois near Lake Michigan, then Navoo, IL, and finally Dubuque, IA, where the family prospered for generations. J.R. Simplot was born there on Jan 4, 1909, one year before his family moved to the drier air of the West to escape tuberculosis that had claimed several members of the extended family. After considering Washington and Oregon, his father, Dick Simplot, selected Burley, ID. Congress had passed the Carey Act (1894), that permitted desert states in the West to claim up to one million acres of federal land if they agreed to irrigate it. Milner Dam on the Snake River was followed in 1907 by the Minidoka Project that included a canal system for the distribution of irrigation water. Jack Simplot's early business sense was demonstrated by a hog project. As the market bottomed, he bought pigs in 1922, and fattened them on boiled, cull potatoes supplemented by a diet of wild horse flesh. He sold the horse hides too. His father helped him build sheds and pens; he hired area children to cut brush to fuel the fires and boil the feed. As a young man, he saw much of the West traveling on the railroads as a hobo. He served briefly in the Oregon National Guard, long enough to know the military was not his destiny. He attended high school briefly in Springfield, OR. In about 1926, a sheriff's sale at the Cassia County (ID) Courthouse allowed him to purchase 18,000 acres in the Raft River Valley for fifty cents per acre with 20 years to pay. He began processing potatoes with a mechanical sorter purchased with a partner. After buying him out with the toss of a coin, he expanded to a string of 33 potato packing sheds from Idaho Falls, ID to Jamieson, OR. He soon began the Simplot Produce Co. for his fresh produce and added onions to the line. He concentrated on potatoes and onions during the Depression in the belief that people would switch to less costly foods to feed their families. In 1941, the Dehydrated Food Manufacturers of America offered to participate in the national defense effort. That resulted in an army contract to supply raw onions for processing, but when the principal failed to pay a debt, a chance meeting resulted in Simplot signing a contract to supply onion powder and onion flakes directly. He purchased equipment for dehydrating prunes, installed it in Caldwell, ID and began shipping dehydrated onions. Production of dehydrated potatoes began the following year. Dehydrated potatoes are ideally suited to Idaho because a bushel of potatoes weighs 60 lb. and could be dehydrated to 13 lb. for about 9 cents. Reduced shipping saved more than the cost of processing. In the late 1930s, Simplot began experimenting with fertilizer supplied by Pacific Guano Fertilizer of California. The result was an outstanding yield of large potatoes. Soon Simplot had purchased phosphate deposits in Idaho and created Simplot Soilbuilders, eventually one of the largest fertilizer companies. In 1943, the company expanded its livestock operations. Wastes from potatoes processing such as skins, sprouts, and eyes were the basic feed. Formulas were soon optimized to maximize use of potato wastes in addition to alfalfa and barley. When wooden boxes for dehydrated onions proved hard to get during the war (1944), Simplot organized a lumber company, Caldwell Lumber, and bought a sawmill. In 1945, he added an interest in Cal-Ida Lumber, which had a sawmill, and expanded box-making capacity. Company research created the first frozen french fries in 1946, but perfecting them took years. Meanwhile efforts to sell them to restaurants were resisted by chefs, who were accustomed to having staff to process potatoes in the kitchen. The turning point came when Simplot met Ray Kroc, whose McDonald's was trying to go national. Simplot's frozen french fries made it possible to serve them in the South, where raw potatoes are difficult to store under required conditions. (Potatoes improperly stored will turn brown when fried due to conversion of potato starches to sugars.) A handshake deal was struck with Ray Kroc in 1967. Care was taken to avoid McDonald's becoming too large a customer. McDonald's was encouraged to take on additional suppliers as they grew. The Simplot Company worked at remaining private, but that meant reliance on banks for financing. Financing was always a limitation in the fast growing company. Prudential Insurance and later Hancock Insurance were sources of funds. In the 50s, numerous expansions continued but notable are the development of a fluorspar deposit and the formation of Simplot Silica Products, which dredges sand for use in glass containers, in foundries, and to manufacture sodium silicate. In 1955, operations included frozen potato patties, frozen diced potatoes, canned and frozen corn, fruit and other vegetables, and "minute" potatoes made for General Foods Corp. In 1976, Jack Simplot was charged with manipulation of potato futures, and the company was charged with income tax violations. In each case he found it expeditious to plead no contest rather than go to trial. He was suspended from trading for five years. He was fined $40,000 for tax violations. J.R. Simplot was an early investor in Micron Technologies, maker of dram chips. He invested $1MM for 40% of the company and later $20MM more as the company grew. By 1999, Simplot interests had gradually reduced their holdings. In 1960, a potato processing facility was added in Maine to serve the Eastern US. An affiliation with Carnation Foods brought production of dehydrated and frozen potato products to Canada. Production of pre-gelitinized potato starch for use in instant puddings was begun at Heyburn, ID. In 1965, a multimillion dollar lawsuit was filed against Texas Gulf Sulfur, supplier of sulfur, a raw material for fertilizer. Not all ventures prospered, and losers were promptly discontinued. One was a coconut plantation in Columbia, where theft by residents nearby prevented successful harvesting. That and investment in four plywood plants were abandoned a due to kidnaping threats. Theft of cattle thwarted a similar venture by Nelson Rockefeller in Venezuela. In 1968, an article in the Idaho State Journal reported operations in 37 states. The book makes no mention of Pringles or of Procter & Gamble. Pringles is a reconstituted potato chip made from dehydrated potatoes. It was developed in the 50s and introduced in the 70s. Apparently Simplot played no role in this development, although perhaps they supplied dehydrated potatoes. An effort to raise Tilapia in Caldwell, ID, by aquiculture using by-products of french fry production in 1988, failed after best efforts. In 1996, Simplot Company had vegetable greenhouses in Idaho and Nevada, and meat processing plants in Idaho and Alabama. They were the largest supplier of hamburger patties to Burger King. Frozen french fry plants numbered six in the US, one in Canada, and one in Beijing. The company ranked in the top ten producers of cattle and beef in the US with feedlots in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Fertilizer interests marketed in sixteen states in the West and in Canada, and owned natural gas interests in Alberta. Products included dried beans, seeds, and pet foods. Simplot is not Mormon, although that is a dominant religion in the area, and Mr. Simplot conformed to many of the Mormon values. J.R. Simplot retired officially in 1973, but remained active as Chairman of the Board, and then as Chairman Emeritus until his death in 2008. Management of the company passed to long standing employees carefully groomed and trained by J.R. Simplot. Assets of the company are held by the Simplot Family Trust, an irrevokable trust. The book references "Origins of the J.R. Simplot Company," 1997, a publication of the Simplot Company, which may be a more comprehensive story of the J.R. Simplot Company. The current volume is a biography which provides detail of the Simplot family. The book is based on numerous recorded interviews with Mr. Simplot as well as other publications. The inability to give dates of some events is frustrating, but the author makes a valiant effort to tell the story of this large but private company. The book is a significant addition to the history of food processing. Index. References.
7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
a billion the hard way by louie attebery,
By Jeffrey a Moffat (Ellensburg, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: J. R. Simplot: A billion the hard way (Hardcover)
This books title promises so much more than it delivers....An extremely disappointing bio....lacks detail....we want to know how j.r. does business....this book won't give you any insight...dull reading....one of the first times i've read a book about a business leader that provided no personal insight into how this person does what he does....or thinks the way he does....too bad !! j.r. seems like a cool dude...would have liked to get to know him....!
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