Joe Jr.& George "Dub" Korkames-1937
Around the turn of the century, Mama Joe and Papa Joe Korkames came to America. In 1929 they settled in Fort Smith, Arkansas where they opened a small cafe, they named "The Famous Cafe". The cafe was a popular hangout for the area's high school students and other youth from around the city. The kids would often remark that "The Famous Cafe was famous for it's chili". In fact, chili became so popular that Papa Joe began packaging it in one pound hand wrapped bricks to sell to his customers at the cafe. At that point Papa Joe decided to market the chili for retail sales in grocery stores around the state. Sales were great and Papa Joe established......
After Papa Joes' death, his son Joesph Edward
Korkames took over the Fort Smith operation. To keep pace with the
ever growing demand for Famous
Brand
CHILI,
Joe Korkames automated the Fort Smith facility to mass produce the
Famous
Brand
CHILI
in a convenient one pound boil in
bag.
Today the
company is still owned and operated by the Korkames Family, now in
their 3rd generation. Famous
Brand
CHILI
is still made using the time tested
recipe that Papa Joe used to start the company over 60 years ago.