Murrieta father and son bond over banana pudding business

Banana pudding isn’t just a business to EJ Smith III, co-owner of Famous Pudn in Murrieta.

“It’s a family tradition,” he said. “It’s been in the family, passed down for generations.”

Smith learned pudding from his parents, and now he’s passing his knowledge on to his son, EJ Smith IV.

“I love it,” said the son, “especially because it’s my business, too. It’s a great opportunity, having your own business and having somebody to guide you through every step.”

The elder Smith has been making pudding from scratch since he was a kid in Gardena.

“When I was 12 years old it was my favorite dessert. My mom told me to get in the kitchen and make it myself because I kept bugging her to make it for me,” he said.

“I jumped on my bike. I ran down to the grocery store. I came home and tried to make it. My dad was the taste-tester. He said ‘That’s not it, son. Try again.’”

On the third try, his father said, “Son, whatever you did, don’t change a thing.”

After college, when he started building his own family in Long Beach, Smith made some banana pudding to sell at a Pop Warner fundraiser. Encouraged by its popularity, he opened a downtown shop, which he said he ran from 2005-2008.

His son said he has memories of his dad making pudding that go back to when he was 3 years old.

“I remember him packaging thousands of puddings. I was putting cookies in, too!  When they were packaging, my hand was at the table trying to put some cookies in to help them.”

The elder Smith’s wife Val got ill, forcing the family to move to Arizona for treatment, and Smith entered the corporate world, working for Red Ventures, a North Carolina-based media company.

After Val was healthy again, the family returned to California in 2015, moving to Murrieta. After that, Smith said his company asked him to move to North California but his son had a different idea.

“My son asked me if I would show him how to be an entrepreneur and bring back the business.”