by Dan Perkins

Arnold Hennings is riding high these days.  He is Executive Vice President of Hensaal Management Group, Inc., a family owned food-service business that he owns along with his brother who serves as the company’s CEO.  One of the reasons Hennings is riding high is because his company was one of 17 local minority and women owned companies selected by Major League Baseball to provide goods and services for its premiere event, the All Star Game.

“For the All Star Game, we served smoked, glazed, barbeque turkey legs, from 3 – 6 pm on July 15, the day of the All Star Game.   We prepared for it two days before.  We served over 2,000 turkey legs, which is a lot of turkey legs in a three hour period.   We worked very hard, but it turned out great.  Everybody liked our turkey legs.”

The All Star Game wasn’t Hensaal's first experience serving up large quantities of turkey legs at a major sporting event.  Each week, during the college football season, the company cooks up turkey legs to satisfy hungry fans that attend home games at the University of Illinois - Champaign-Urbana and Northwestern University, as well as other schools throughout the Midwest.

Although Hensaal has developed a growing reputation for its turkey legs, the company has a much larger product line.  “We have a whole host of products, from a great tuna fish sandwich to a prime rib,” declared Hennings.  “We have the whole shebang.”

In addition to its concession operations, the company supplies a variety of products that are now carried in grocery chains under the brand name, Southern Chief, formerly Soul Chief.  “Our products are in Jewels, Dominick’s, Walgreen’s, Aldi's, and Omni stores across the country.” said Hennings. “We’re also working with Kroger and Albertson’s.”

According to Hennings, the company switched its brand name to Southern Chief because Soul Chief was too confining.  “Southern Chief has no limitations,” said Hennings.

In 1973, Hennings, his mother, sister, and brother founded the company.  Hennings’ mother passed and his sister is no longer involved, but Hennings credits his brother for seeing the company through its most difficult times.  “I pulled out and came back, but my brother stayed with it.  That’s why he’s CEO,” said Hennings.

The family, which specializes in soulful Southern dishes, was the first to bring frozen chitterling dinners to Jewel and Dominick’s stores in 1975.  Next came frozen ham hock and hog maw dinners.  Hennings claims that in 1976, his company was the first to create clear balloon-style plastic pie-pan covers.

“We’re constantly developing new products,” said Hennings.  In addition to its frozen line of dinners, the company offers an array of southern-styled canned products, including canned mustard-greens, turnip-greens and collard greens.

“The thing is: you want to have your products talked about,” said Hennings. 

The End