How famous is Honey Baked Ham?
On “The Tonight Show” after Johnny Carson’s 1985 divorce, the late-night host offered words to this effect to sidekick Ed McMahon:
“She got the house. She got the car. But it’s OK — I got the Honey Baked Ham.”
“It’s an iconic American brand,” laughs Linda van Rees (BBA ’85), board member and former chairman of The Honey Baked Ham Co. She’s a granddaughter of company founder Harry J. Hoenselaar and an articulate champion of a celebrated dish familiar at holiday tables, tailgates, weddings, funerals and other special gatherings.
“Honey Baked Ham is an artisanal product,” van Rees says. “From the selection of the meat to the smoke schedule and humidity and the glaze that’s added by hand in every store, all is done with great personal care. We deeply appreciate the fact that our products are part of important family occasions.”
Honey Baked Ham is, in fact, a family story. The four daughters of the Detroit-based founder, along with their husbands, took the business to separate parts of the country. Linda’s mother, Carol, and father, Richard, came to the Southeast, and it became the largest operation by far. Linda took over from her father in the early 1990s. When the family consolidated operations in a complex five-way merger, Linda found herself running more than 400 stores in 40 states. Post-pandemic, she looked for help.
Jim Dinkins (BBA ’84) just finished a 29-year career at The Coca-Cola Co., retiring as president of North America.
“I’d always bought Honey Baked Ham, so I knew the quality,” Dinkins says. “It was a 60-plus-year family business based in Alpharetta. The family generously provided information and plans. I couldn’t say no.”
With Dinkins as CEO and van Rees as chairman, HBH boosted holiday sales, simplified online buying, added stores and franchises and made an acquisition.
“We’ve grown the top line plus-30 percent and the bottom line plus-40 percent in the last four-and-a-half years,” Dinkins says.
Dinkins and van Rees bring a double portion of Terry to HBH.
Jim was readied for business, he said, by a coat-and-tie accounting professor who drilled students with pointed questions.
As a management information systems major, van Rees found her classes “taught me a very high level of problem-solving.”
The Honey Baked Ham family culture encourages private time. Van Rees rides horses. Dinkins and his wife golf together.
“We strongly believe that the family history of Honey Baked Ham has helped shape the warm culture of our stores,” van Rees says. “One customer told us, when it comes to food, a Honey Baked Ham on the table is the closest thing she knows to a hug.”
Favorite tastes
Linda: “I make an Italian lentil soup, and I add a Honey Baked Ham bone. It brings such complexity, a distinct flavor profile. It’s so amazing.”
Jim: “We came out a couple of years ago with ham and turkey sliders. I’ll get a tray of 12, and they make a meal or a snack or a breakfast or a tailgate dish. I’ve used them all those ways.”