A large family that had immigrated to Virginia in the seventeenth century, the Bryans spread out across the South, with one branch finding its way to West Point, Mississippi. A small town in the northeast corner of the state, it was located along rail lines that gave it access to markets from New Orleans to Memphis and Cincinnati. The family had owned a grocery store and meat market since 1890, but a nephew from Alabama, James Charles Byran, opened his own meat market in town in 1909. When he died in 1930, two of his sons, university educated, William Burnett and John Henry, returned home to work the business. They had larger plans despite the Great Depression, which gripped the country and was especially hard on the South. Because the cattle raised in the area brought so little money (1½ cents per pound) when shipped to market, they decided to go into the slaughtering and packing business themselves. In 1936, they built a small packing house and began operation as Bryan Brothers Packing Company. Pork and pork products, including bologna and “weenies,” were the company staples until later in the decade when beef was added. In 1938 it became the first commercial meat canner in the state, and its Vienna sausages in oil are southern staples. In 1939 it introduced the “Prairie Belt” line with a small boy eating a hot dog on the label. “P.B.” became a household name throughout the South, made familiar via radio and television by the jingle: “It’s P.B. for me.” Like many other large enterprises, Bryan took off after World War II. Through its forward-looking leadership (John H. Bryan, Jr, later president of Sara Lee, opposed racial segregation and actively worked to integrate the business and community), technological upgrading, and keen marketing, by 1968 Bryan Brothers Packing had $55 million in sales and a workforce of 750. That year the company agreed to a merger with Consolidated Foods. In 1975 John H. Bryan became CEO of Consolidated Foods and chairman of the board in 1976, positions he held until 2000. By 2000 Bryan was the largest processor of fresh pork in the Southeast, with its “The Flavor of the South!” packaged meats a dominant figure in deli cases.
