Before there was a John Belk, Hugh McColl or Johnny Harris leading Charlotte’s business and civic communities, there was Philip Lance Van Every. The grandson of Lance snack company’s founders rose from salesman to CEO, while elevating his family’s company into a national brand.
ToastChee, Toasty and Nekot crackers are still sweetening the air along South Boulevard more than 100 years after the company was founded.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
For 30 years under Van Every’s leadership, Lance’s annual sales rose from $9 million to $80 million. And for the seven years he served as mayor pro tem and two terms as mayor, he helped develop some of Charlotte’s foundational projects: Independence Boulevard was completed, what is now Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center was expanded, Park Road Shopping Center, Ovens Auditorium and Bojangles Coliseum were built, and the Dowd YMCA was funded.
Whether he was escorting President Dwight Eisenhower through Freedom Park on a visit to town, or riding on calls with policemen, which he did so regularly he was presented his own badge, Van Every rolled his sleeves up for Charlotte.
His legacy lives on in the thriving brand he left behind, a statue along Charlotte’s Trail of History, and his family’s nonprofit. The Philip L. Van Every Foundation has invested more than $60 million toward community initiatives throughout the Carolinas, according to executive director Crystal Thomann.
NEW OFFICE SPACE DESIGN
Five years ago, the family-run charity moved its offices from the South Boulevard manufacturing plant to the four-story building near Uptown that housed the Lance factory from 1920 to 1962. The foundation occupies 1,455 square feet on the third floor of what’s now The Lofts at Factory South condominiums for board meetings and to honor Lance’s legacy.
Quincy White, foundation chair and the second-oldest of Van Every’s 14 grandchildren, has worked with the board to curate Lance collectibles from auction houses, Lance retirees, family members and other collectors across the country.
White’s brother, Marty, built the conference room table, and their cousin, Pebbles Glenn Nix, an interior designer from Charlotte who now lives in Atlanta, designed the space.
She used a neutral gray wall color to highlight historical black-and-white photographs. Phil Van Every’s portrait is flanked by images of a company baseball team, a Christmas party and a 1950s “Love At First Bite” ad campaign. Seating and kitchen areas are accessorized with vintage Lance cracker jars, a 1900s peanuts cart and Lance’s first vending machine from 1954. The office has exposed brick walls and original factory piping.
“You can still see peanut stains on the floor and ceiling,” White says. “I love being there. My cousins and I feel like we're surrounded by family.”
LANCE COMPANY HISTORY
The company’s history dates back to the 1910s when Van Every’s grandfather, Philip L. Lance, a food and coffee bean broker, accidentally ordered a 500-pound bag of raw peanuts. His wife, Nancy, roasted them in her kitchen, and Lance sold them for 5 cents a bag at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets.
Lance Packing Company started making peanut brittle and peanut butter. Lance’s daughter, Mary Arnold Van Every, came up with the idea to spread peanut butter between crackers to create the first commercially sold peanut butter sandwich crackers in 1912.
Lance products were hand-delivered in baskets to Uptown merchants, by horse and buggy, and later the Ford Model T. Lance’s offices moved twice before settling at what is now condos on Arlington Avenue because it was on the Southern Railway with easy access to sugar and peanut shipments.
In 1938, Lance introduced ToastChee, its signature square orange cheddar-flavored cracker with peanut butter filling. Philip Van Every’s father, Salem, then CEO, shifted focus from candy to crackers during World War II, deciding that rationed sugar would go further in baked goods.
Five years later, in 1943, Philip L. Van Every took over as CEO after his father died on Easter Sunday. He was 29. Under his leadership, Lance adopted a multi-management program, delegating responsibilities across departments. He introduced the concept of a “Lance man,” a route salesman who maintained his own truck.
“He instituted a 100% company-funded profit-sharing plan for the employees (after World War II),” White says. “They had a credit union, insurance programs, a company, cafeteria, free uniforms and Christmas parties at the Carolina Theater Uptown.”
Under Van Every, Lance expanded its distribution beyond mom-and-pop shops, gas stations and pharmacies to institutional food services. Captain's wafers, saltines and Melba toast became available in hospitals and schools.
In 1962, Van Every oversaw the opening of the 485,000-square-foot plant off South Boulevard. His employees knew him as “Mr. Phil,” the CEO who ate with them in the cafeteria.
When he died in 1980, Lance was being sold in 34 states.
“I remember being in awe of him and his gentle power,” White says. “He loved his family, he loved his community, and he loved his Lance employee family.”
"The Philip L. Van Every Foundation has invested more than $60 million toward community initiatives throughout the Carolinas."