The Echo Lake Foods Story
Breakfast Expertise Since 1941
1941
Towards the end of the Great Depression, a high school graduate named Paul Kramer purchased eggs from local farmers, loaded them into his car, and sold them to relatives and friends. This venture led to the creation of Echo Lake Farm Produce Company, which expanded rapidly as Paul and his father began selling eggs to factory workers in Chicago.
1949
With the expanded business, a 40 by 40 concrete block building was constructed on their farm property overlooking Echo Lake, located in Burlington, WI. The “door to door” delivery of shell eggs gradually ended as they acquired a Milwaukee based egg processor in 1949. This acquisition launched Echo Lake into the business of breaking eggs and selling them as liquid.
1964
In 1964, Echo Lake upgraded its operations by adding egg breaking and pasteurization equipment, shifting from hand breaking. This allowed us to offer longer shelf-life products and access new markets. With USDA inspections, Echo Lake became a top processor in the Midwest, introducing more automation, building new facilities, and creating a fleet for delivering refrigerated liquid and frozen egg products.
1980's
In 1981, Mr. Kramer sold the company to the present owners, The Meinerz Family.
Since then, Echo Lake has adapted in many ways to meet the demand of an ever changing marketplace. Beginning in 1983, the company began production into a frozen line of cooked omelets, egg patties and diced eggs.
1990's
In 1996, we expanded into the production of French Toast and Pancakes.
2000's
In 2001, we acquired a large production and storage facility in Owensboro, KY. This facility gives us new capacities along with additional strengths in serving our national customer base.
In 2004, we changed our name to simply Echo Lake Foods, due to our commitment to offer our customers far more than just egg products. We continue to create a variety of new concepts, flavor options and entrée styles for breakfast meal menus.
2020's
In 2020, we expanded our product line to include organic SKUs. In 2024, we achieved Prop 12 certification for all our plants, reflecting our ongoing investment in the cage-free market.
