BROADBAND: HELPING YOU WORK
A LOCAL TREASURE Pikeville family business celebrates 51 years Story by LISA SAVAGE | Photography by MARK GILLILAND
W
hen Lester Burks’ father, Gary Burks, started Life Line Foods more than 50 years ago, the family business was among the leaders in the health food bakery industry. A lot has changed since its all-natural, fresh-baked bread products were delivered at times on a Greyhound bus to small grocery stores across the southeastern United States. Now, Life Line Foods focuses solely on liquid nutrition, known by the brand name Buried Treasure. The company ships thousands of Buried Treasure products all over the world from its manufacturing facility in Pikeville. There’s no storefront, but about 22 employees work in the local state-of-theart manufacturing and distribution facility, and there are about 50 Buried Treasure sales representatives across the country.
A FAMILY BUSINESS
Regina Ramirez works on the production line.
8 | May/June 2020
Life Line Foods started in 1969, providing a healthy, organic alternative to standard bakery products. Gary Burks passed away a few years ago, but the company continues to thrive. “This was one of the first companies to produce and mass market sprouted-grain breads,” Burks says. The bakery sold exclusively to health food outlets and grocery stores all over the country, producing products under the brand name Breads for Life. Products went out by truck and van. It wasn’t unusual to ship through the bus lines, too. “In the early days, if a little store in Meridian, Mississippi, needed a shipment of bread, we’d pack it and take it to the bus station,” Burks says. “The store owner would be notified and would meet the bus at the local bus station.” BTC Fiber
