Clarence Francis (1888–1985) was an American business executive and an internationally recognized expert on food. He served the food industry for 44 years, 30 years of which as a leader of the General Foods Company, retiring as its chairman in 1954.
Born in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York City, Francis started his food career with the Corn Products Refining Co., moved to Ralston Purina Co., and then to the Postum Cereal Co. He rose through the sales ranks and become the president of Post Products, which was Postum’s parent company. Post Products evolved into General Foods through mergers and acquisitions.
Under Francis’s leadership, General Foods turned a profit in the frozen foods segment after an initial $17 million loss. He introduced the first instant coffee product after twelve years of research and shipped it to American forces stationed overseas in 1942.
Francis continued as a board member of General Foods until 1960, when he was appointed its director emeritus. Following his retirement, Francis served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Studebaker Automobile Corporation. He was also an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and helped raise funds for the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Clarence Francis
I sincerely believe that the word relationships is the key to the prospect of a decent world. It seems abundantly clear that every problem you will have-in your family, in your work, in our nation, or in this world-is essentially a matter of relationships, of interdependence.
—Clarence Francis
Topics: Friendship
You can buy people’s time; you can buy their physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of their skilled muscular motions per hour. But you cannot buy enthusiasm … you cannot buy loyalty … you cannot buy the devotion of hearts, minds and souls. You must earn these.
—Clarence Francis
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