Pearl Sets the Pace

A family business frequently involves enough drama to fill a book&;this one in fact.Pearl Sets the Pace tells the story of two landmark companies and a mighty dynasty. It begins in 1883 with the arrival of German brew master Otto Koehler in the bustling city of San Antonio Texas. He establishes himself as one of the founders of a firm that eventually becomes the Pearl Brewery. In 1914 his murder at the hands of a disgruntled mistress becomes front-page news across the nation. Emma his grieving (but tough-as-nails) widow assumes leadership of the company and keeps it afloat during the dark days of Prohibition. In 1941 Margaret Bosshardt one of Emma&;s granddaughters marries David Earl Pace. After World War II the young couple formulate a secret recipe for Mexican salsa. Like mad scientists they experiment in their home kitchen and try out their concoctions on friends. From such humble beginnings grew a mighty enterprise a real-world manifestation of the American Dream. By the early 1990s Dave and Margaret&;s picante sauce was the top-selling Mexican food condiment in the world. Their descendants sold the business to the Campbell Soup Company for $1.1 billion.Through murders and mistresses Depression and divorces booms and busts a passion for product sustained the Koehler-Pace clan. To make something not simply for their neighbors to buy but also something that would become integral to their daily lives. That became their defining principle. Yes it defined them but it also characterized their city. Can anyone really imagine San Antonio without beer and picante sauce? This is the story of a proud complicated and interwoven family and the two great enterprises they wrangled. But it is also the story of a unique Texas city and the people it breeds.It&;s a business story a family story and a story of a thriving modern city; it is also our story.