Pete Pahides was 19 years old when he took over Cedar Farms.
It was 1977. His father, Gus P. Pahides, had become ill, leaving Pete to deal with customers and businesspeople two and three times his age.
“I struggled dealing with people two and three times my age, trying to earn their respect,” Pahides told Cosmos Philly. “It took time.”
He remembers being nervous at first. Gradually, the relationships settled into place.
“Thankfully, the people that I dealt with accepted me with open arms,” he said.
Nearly five decades later, AHEPA honored Pete Pahides with its Academy of Achievement in Business Award and posthumously honored his father with the same award at the Grand Convention Banquet in Philadelphia on July 31, 2026. The banquet was part of AHEPA’s 104th Supreme Convention.
Much of Pahides’ story begins with his father, Gus.
Pete said his father left Greece around the beginning of World War II and came to the United States seeking a better life. Born on Chios, Gus eventually started a small food business, and Pete remembers hearing how those beginnings grew from the family home. What stayed with him most were the rules his father attached to doing business: work hard, be honest, respect people and take care of the customer.
Cedar Farms dates Gus Pahides’ own food distribution business to 1949, when he began serving restaurants and diners in Philadelphia.
AHEPA’s account says Gus later served during the Korean War and rebuilt his business after returning home.
In 1970, he acquired Cedar Farms. Pete joined the company’s warehouse operations in 1976 and assumed full responsibility after his father became ill. The company later expanded into its current Northeast Philadelphia facility.
“At times it is challenging being a family-owned business competing with the national companies,” Pahides said. But he also sees the smaller scale as an advantage, particularly when customers want a personal relationship with the people supplying them.
“Respect, honesty, hard work ethic, no shortcuts,” Pahides said. “You only get out of life what you put into it.”
For years, many Cedar Farms customers came from the region’s Greek-American restaurant community.
“We had a very strong Greek-American customer base,” Pahides said. Over time, he watched later generations move out of the restaurant business and into other fields.
As the customer base changed, Pahides said he continued to approach those relationships the same way.
“No matter who you’re dealing with, you just have to treat people with respect and honesty in the same way you would want to be treated.”
The Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia also includes Cedar Farms among the food wholesalers and distributors documented in its project on Greek-owned diners and restaurants in the Delaware Valley.
Today, Pahides remains Cedar Farms’ president and CEO.
He married in 1987 and told Cosmos Philly that all four of his children are involved in the business. He also has seven grandchildren.
Pahides also recalled childhood memories with his father.
He remembers going crabbing with Gus on Delaware Bay when he was four or five years old. A few years later, his father would take him to work simply to have him nearby.
“He just liked having me around,” Pahides said.
He remembers Gus as demanding when circumstances required it, but never distant for long.
“He was a tough man,” Pahides said. “When it was time to be tough, five minutes later, he could put his arms around you and laugh it off.”
Pahides also wants his father remembered for his ties to Philadelphia’s Hellenic community. In the interview, he recalled Gus as a strong supporter of local Greek Orthodox churches and said he served for years on the board at St. George. AHEPA likewise records his involvement with St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral and other Hellenic organizations in Philadelphia.
Asked what he hopes Cedar Farms will look like another 20 or 30 years from now, Pahides again looked to the next generation.
He wants the business and his family to keep growing, and he hopes to be around to watch his children and grandchildren shape what comes next.
Near the end of the interview, Pahides thanked the Greek-American customers who supported Cedar Farms over the decades and the longtime employees who helped build the company. Some remain at Cedar Farms; others have retired.
“Without them,” Pahides said, “I’m nobody.”
The video interview with Pete Pahides was sponsored by the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia.