In August 2022, Robert E. Rich (Bob) was named Senior Chairman of Rich Products Corporation, after serving as Chairman for the past 16 years. During his tenure, he led the company to more than $5.8 billion in worldwide sales revenue. Rich’s continues to build business in new markets with cutting-edge management practices, high business ethics, and customer service standards, which have earned Bob distinction as one of the nation’s most prominent business leaders.
His dynamic leadership was recognized with an appointment as Chairman of the U.S. based Grocery Manufacturers Association in 1999 and selection as a National Restaurant Association “Diplomat” in May 2000.
Other noteworthy distinctions include his 1996 induction into the Frozen Food Industry Hall of Fame, making his father, Robert E. Rich, and him the first father-and-son team to be so honored. That same year, Refrigerated and Frozen Foods magazine selected Bob as its “Executive of the Year.” In 2017, Bob and his father were inducted into the inaugural class of the Western New York Business Hall of Fame and joined a group of Buffalo’s finest leaders celebrated for leaving an indelible mark on Buffalo Niagara.
Bob is a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association Hall of Achievement, the National Frozen Food Hall of Fame, the Prepared Food Hall of Fame and the ENACTUS (Entrepreneurial, Action, Us; formerly known as Students in Free Enterprise [SIFE]) Hall of Fame. Also, the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame, the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame. In 1999, he became the second angler ever to be inducted into the South Florida Fishing Hall of Fame.
In addition to his Rich Products leadership, Bob has played an important role in professional baseball in Buffalo, N.Y. In 1983, Bob purchased the then-struggling Double-A Buffalo Bisons professional franchise, in order to keep professional baseball in the Queen City.
In 1984, he realized another major goal when he purchased baseball’s Triple-A Wichita Aeros and moved the American Association franchise to Buffalo.
In 1988, Bob cut the ribbon on Buffalo’s new downtown ballpark, celebrating the fulfillment of a dream to build a new home for the Bisons and setting the franchise on a course that has since included two league championships and annual minor league attendance supremacy.
He serves as Chairman of Bison Baseball Inc., Northwest Arkansas Baseball Inc., and Morgantown Baseball Inc. He is also the past Commissioner of the National Baseball Congress, an organization of amateur and semi-pro baseball leagues operating in the U.S. and Canada.
