In 1957, Richard E. Melson began building CK Processing Company in Muscatine, IA. The name, CK and the diamond logo, originated from a well known cattle farm named the Diamond CK Ranch located in Salina, Kansas. This ranch was owned by John J. Vanier who was CK’s silent partner.
During the plant construction, R. E. Melson revolutionized the feed industry by being one of the first to design a custom-drying drum that reduced the caking of dry molasses. This feature allowed CK to remain successful throughout the following 50 years.
Also, CK's location was ideal for transporting molasses products by the Mississippi River. To handle this new river transportation, River Terminal Corporation was formed by Iowa Soya Co. of Redfield, IA. The terminal was designed to handle numerous commodities including the products of both Iowa Soya Co. and CK Processing Co. Today, the River Terminal still resides along the shore banks of the Mississippi River and is now operated by CK. It continues to handle several commodities and offers a liquid storage facility with a capacity of 35,000 tons.
In the summer of 1958, under the direction of R.E. Melson, CK's manufacturing facility was complete and the first batch of dry molasses was introduced to the feed industry. Econolass: For Better Feeds and Better Feeding Results. Today, Econolass remains CK's highest marketed dry molasses feed ingredient.
Throughout the years, CK continued to grow as the demand for molasses supplements increased. These expansions aimed for an increase in the manufacturing facility, dry and liquid storage and specialty services such as customized drying, blending and packaging of CK's molasses feed products.
In 1985, R. E. Melson became the sole owner of CK Processing Company and River Terminal Corporation. After 36 years of devoted service to CK, president and owner Richard E. Melson retired in the summer of 1994. He sold CK and River Terminal to his son, James R. Melson. On May 8, 2005, Richard E. Melson passed away at the age of 86.
As a teenager year, J. R. Melson spent his summers working for CK. But it wasn't until after graduating college that J. R. Melson would learn CK's molasses trade secrets as the operations manager. Today, J. R. Melson is celebrating 35 years with CK and his 14th year as president and owner of CK and River Terminal.
J. R. Melson continues to expand CK's services. In 1994, a containment area was constructed to prevent possible leaks from liquid storage tanks. The storage tanks moved into this designated area offered customers safe storage for their liquid fertilizer.
In 1998, Christopher S. Melson, son of J. R. Melson, joined the CK workforce. C.S. Melson trained in the manufacturing process where he learned the molasses trade secrets from beginning to end. During the spring of 2001, C. S. Melson earned his current position as production manager.
In 2008, CK celebrated its 50th Anniversary! We thank our customers for the past 50 years. Without them we would not have reached this great milestone. As we continue into the future, we strive to uphold our legacy... commitment to customer satisfaction by providing manufacturer experience and quality product. Thank you!
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