Louis M. Groen (August 8, 1917 – May 30, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and lifelong resident of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Groen invented the Filet-O-Fish

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

in 1962. He invented the sandwich at his struggling

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

restaurant to satisfy his customers. At the time, most of his customers were

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and abstained from eating meat on Fridays. The Filet-O-Fish, served with cheese and tartar sauce, is now served at McDonald's restaurants throughout the world.

Biography

Early life and career

Born and raised in

, Groen graduated from North College Hill High School in 1935. At his peak, Groen owned 43 McDonald's restaurants in the Ohio and northern Kentucky region, eventually selling them back to the McDonald's corporation, including a longtime business partner Ed Cummings's brother and son. He held on to two, in Northgate and Tylersville, until his own son Paul took them over in 1994.

Career with McDonald's

A prominent McDonald's hamburger restaurant franchisee from 1959 to 1986, after he introduced his sandwich in 1962, McDonald's Corp. founder and CEO

Ray Kroc Raymond Albert Kroc (October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984) was an American businessman who was instrumental in turning McDonald's into the most successful global fast food corporation by revenue. He purchased it from the McDonald Brothers in ...

was not exactly impressed with the idea of having a fish sandwich on his franchise menu, for he thought that he had a better idea, a "Hula" burger, which had simply a breaded, fried pineapple slice in between a toasted bun and a slice of cheese. Recalls Groen: ''"I told Ray (Kroc) about it (the idea of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich) and he said, “You’re always coming up here with a bunch of crap!” “I don’t want my stores stunk up with the smell of fish.”'' Groen engaged in a wager with Kroc on whose idea would sell better. Groen recalls again: "I called in (to McDonald's) and asked, "How many sandwiches did (Kroc) sell?" They (McDonald's) said "I can't tell you.” They asked, “How many did you sell?" I said "350!" Then they said "It's on the menu!"

Death

Groen died peacefully of natural causes on May 30, 2011, in Cincinnati.Louis M. GROEN obituary, ''Cincinnati.com'', Published in ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' on June 2, 2011
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groen, Lou 1917 births 2011 deaths Businesspeople from Cincinnati People from North College Hill, Ohio McDonald's people 20th-century American businesspeople

Biography

Early life and career

Career with McDonald's

Death

See also

References