Coast Packing Company is a leading manufacturer of quality shortening products for the restaurant, baking and food industries. Founded in 1922 by three partners who desired to be in the livestock and abattoir (slaughtering) business, Coast Packing Company remained in the meat packing business for more than forty years, producing a full line of processed and smoked pork and beef products. In the early 1960s, economic conditions altered the company's competitive position to the degree that it became necessary to change strategic operations. The manager-owners, preferring to remain in some facet of the food manufacturing industry which could be integrally linked to the growth of Southern California, decided that the processing of animal and animal-vegetable shortening products was a natural choice because of the company's close ties with the meat industry. As a result of this strategic decision, Coast Packing Company today is a leading supplier of animal fat and vegetable oil shortenings.