Sam Stevenson and the Founding of F-D-S Manufacturing Company
By Laurie Wiegler
“Pick up a basket of strawberries at the supermarket and reflect upon the texture, color, shape, and design… of the basket. While consumers may take such packaging for granted, without the aid of the seemingly innocuous strawberry basket, shipping and selling agricultural products would prove impossible. Since 1
950, F-D-S, named for founders Fritz Fernstrom, Dan Dayton, and Sam Stevenson, has cornered the market on not only strawberry baskets, but innumerable other agricultural packaging products and single face corrugated paper products, serving customers throughout the United States and Worldwide. Chief Executive Officer Sam Stevenson, the only remaining original partner, explains how his fledgling enterprise took root.
“In the 1940s, certain agricultural businesses in the state wanted packaging supplies that they couldn’t get.”
At the time, Stevenson- who had a background in agriculture and the paper industry- was working as an engineer at a paper mill owned by Fernstrom. Sam figured out that produce distributors needed a better method to ventilate fruit and vegetables at the center of their shipping boxes. Thus, Sam invented a single face corrugated pad that fit at the bottom of the “wood lug” (shipping crate) to allow for better airflow to the fruit or vegetables. This invention not only let the produce “breathe”, but turned the agricultural packaging industry around. At that time, the transportation of fruits and vegetables was problematic; railcars were poorly refrigerated and the need for ventilation was crucial. Sam’s pad was a must have for produce distributors and put him on the map. Sam was so inspired by the positive reception of his “lug liner”, he decided to start a business that would cater to the agricultural packaging industry with new and innovative packaging. Sam convinced Fernstrom and fellow employee of the Ferstrom paper mill, Dan Dayton, to help launch a business that would better serve the California agricultural community. With that; Sam, Fritz, and Dan would form the company F-D-S Manufacturing Company in Chino, California. Fernstrom, who lent his name to the company, worked for F-D-S Manufacturing Company as president for two years and Dayton, who originally worked as a salesman for F-D-S, soon quit to work with another company, which left Sam to be the sole owner and operator. Unfazed, by the recent departures, Sam and F-D-S were on the move.
“Basically,” Sam said with a laugh, “I was the operating person from the start.” Sam was known to make light of his early commitment to the company, even though the company often required long days and weeks. Up until his death in 2004, Sam Stevenson was a vital part of F-D-S. He would frequently visit the F-D-S office and check on operations as well as attend board meetings. Of course, these days F-D-S is hardly a small shop on the out skirts of a small dairy town. The main manufacturing facility in Pomona, California works in tandem with the 100,000 square foot distribution center in Fowler, California. Together, the two operations provide a wealth of paper and plastic packaging supplies to the agricultural and industrial industries. F-D-S’ industrial output consists of single face corrugated rolls, sheets, die cuts, wax paper, corner boards, build up pads, Titan tents (one plant miniature greenhouse), and cohesive single face corrugated. Aside from strawberry baskets, F-D-S thermoforms various sizes of clamshells and tray liners for fruit and vegetables. F-D-S’ clamshells have been tested and rated to be some of the “fastest coolers” of fruit on the market. Besides the aforementioned capabilities, F-D-S has a veritable maze of equipment at the Pomona plant. Some of it was bought and used as it was intended. However, much of the equipment that fills the warehouses at F-D-S Manufacturing Company is custom designed and built to fill a particular need the company has had. Robert Stevenson, President of F-D-S Manufacturing Company and Sam’s son, explains that his father invented most of the machines used today, often with little mind to the creative genius behind his efforts. Although Sam has “always made a living,” his efforts have afforded him far more reason to boast. F-D-S is a top manufacturer in both the industrial and agricultural packaging industries. The secret, Sam felt, is devising materials and producing them at a price that has allowed it to remain competitive. Products like innovatively designed clamshells has allowed F-D-S Manufacturing to stay open even as competitors have had to close their doors. However, Sam said that F-D-S has fierce competition in every market it makes products for- a challenge he reveled rather than writhe. To this day, F-D-S Manufacturing is still a family ran business and there are currently two Stevenson generations working at the manufacturing company.”
