As The National Provisioner (NP) celebrated its 100-year anniversary in April 1991, industry was struggling to meet ever-changing consumer demand for more … safer products, further value-added products, higher-quality products plus more convenient products and packaging.

Since serving as editorial director of The National Provisioner and Meat & Deli Retailer, plus editor of the latter publication, in the early to mid-2000s, I, too, became a tiny thread in this massive, ever-growing NP editorial quilt.

Just as music radically changed during this twenty-five year span, so did American consumers — and particularly their demand for meat products.

Satisfying America’s meat needs during The National Provisioner’s (NP) first 50 years (1891-1941) in publishing was a monumental task.

As The National Provisioner (NP) entered its second 25 years in trade publishing, America’s population was booming while the meat industry continued automating to help meet growing demand.

Two months after the Dalton Gang’s first train-robbery attempt of Southern Pacific No. 17 near Alila, Calif., the premiere issue of The National Provisioner (NP) was published April 11, 1891, by Ganz & Marx in New York.