Crowley Foods

Last updated
Crowley Foods
Type Subsidiary
Industry Food
Founded1904 (established 1915)
Poughkeepsie, New York,
United States
FounderJ.K. Crowley
Headquarters Lynnfield, Massachusetts,
United States
Area served
Eastern United States
Products Dairy
Parent HP Hood LLC (primary)
Balford Farms (part-owner)
Website http://crowleyfoods.com

Crowley Foods (legal name Crowley Foods LLC) is an American dairy company formerly based in Binghamton, New York. It has been a subsidiary of HP Hood LLC since being purchased by the company in 2004, which is headquartered in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. [1] [2] Products provided by the company include milk, half and half, cream, cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt. [3] The original plant located on Conklin Avenue in Binghamton manufactured these dairy products until the acquisition by HP Hood, when certain Crowley Foods items began to be made at facilities elsewhere which were better equipped. Production at the plant ceased altogether in 2012, but the warehouse and distribution center continued to be used until 2014. [4] [5]

Contents

A news source from Binghamton mentions that Balford Farms of Burlington, New Jersey, purchased the rights to Crowley Foods in 2014. Another source states that Balford Farms is a part-owner, having only a portion of the assets. According to the history section on the Crowley Foods website, as of 2017, it mentions that their products are still part of the HP Hood line of brands. [1] Balford Farms took over the warehouse and distribution center for Crowley Foods, located in nearby Conklin, New York, in 2014. [6] Mountain Fresh Dairy of Queens, New York, purchased the Binghamton plant in 2013, and began production at the facility in late 2016. [2] They ceased operations two years later and the building was once again vacant. It was sold to a local development company in 2022. [7] [8]

History

Crowley Foods was founded in 1904 by grocery clerk James K. "J.K." Crowley when he purchased a fledgling dairy business for $500.00 in Poughkeepsie, New York. [9] His company assets began with a horse and wagon, ice house, barn, some cans and bottles as well as a milk delivery route serving local customers. [10] In 1915, Crowley moved and expanded his business at Binghamton as the location was closer to numerous dairy farms in upstate New York. [1] [11] Originally known as Crowley's Dairy Company, manufacturing and distribution of dairy products began at the facility on Conklin Avenue and would continue there for almost 100 years. A second plant opened at Newburgh, New York, in 1921. Retail outlets and other production facilities soon followed. [12] At its peak, Crowley's Dairy Company sold their products throughout much of the northeastern United States.

Crowley's Dairy Company would sponsor a set of 18 baseball cards featuring players from the Binghamton Triplets, who won the Eastern League championship in 1940. [13] The team was a minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees during that time. [10]

For many years Crowley milk cartons proclaimed their motto, "Crowley's Milk As Good as Any Better'n Some".

Crowley Foods was sold to Dutch company NV Wessanen Koninklijke Fabrieken (now Royal Wessanen) in 1983 for $16.4 million. Royal Wessanen then did a roll up of several additional regional dairy brands. National Dairy Holdings would purchase Crowley Foods and other brands in the portfolio from Royal Wessanen in 2001 for $400 million, only to be acquired by HP Hood three years later in a deal that also included Kemps of St. Paul, Minnesota. [14]

The company has competed in and won many dairy competitions over the years. In recent times, Crowley Foods broke their own record by winning five gold medals and seven silver medals in a competition of prestigious dairy foods at the 2005 Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, New York. Crowley Foods won a total of ten medals at the same event a year earlier. [15]

Acquisitions

Crowley Foods has acquired a number of dairy companies to expand business, including:

All companies were acquired by HP Hood in 2004. The Ready Food Products brands were discontinued. Rosenberger's Dairy was sold to Balford Farms in 2014. [19]

Crowley Foods acquired a production plant from defunct Jersey Milk & Cream Company in 1954, located in LaFargeville, New York. The facility is now operated by HP Hood. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The J.M. Smucker Company</span> American food and beverage manufacturer

The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major business units: consumer foods, pet foods, and coffee. Its flagship brand, Smucker's, produces fruit preserves, peanut butter, syrups, frozen crustless sandwiches, and ice cream toppings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigham's Ice Cream</span> Brand of ice cream and restaurants

Brigham's Ice Cream is a brand of ice cream and formerly a restaurant franchise. Brigham's is sold in quart containers throughout New England, and was served at franchised restaurants located in Massachusetts until 2013. It was founded in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts. Since the purchase by HP Hood, its offices are located at Kimball Lane, Lynnfield, Massachusetts. The company maintains a strong regional identity, using regional terms such as "wicked" (extremely) and "frappe", and makes reference to events with special significance to New Englanders, such as the Big Dig and the 2004 World Series. At one time, there were 100 Brigham's restaurant locations; the last was in Arlington, Massachusetts, and changed its name in August 2015. The ice cream is currently owned and manufactured by Hood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arla Foods UK</span> British dairy products subsidiary

Arla Foods Ltd is a major dairy products company in the United Kingdom, based in Leeds, and a subsidiary of the Arla Foods Group, which is owned by its farmer owners in seven countries including the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HP Hood</span> American dairy company

HP Hood LLC is an American dairy company based in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Hood was founded in 1846 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, by Harvey Perley Hood. Recent company acquisitions by HP Hood have expanded its reach from predominantly New England to the broader United States. Today, the company has an annual sales revenue of about $3.2 billion and more than 3,400 employees.

Bulla Dairy Foods is an Australian dairy company that manufactures a national and export range of ice cream, table cream, yoghurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, and imitation cream under various brands. The business was established in 1910 and subsequently became a partnership among three inter-related families, who still continue to own and operate the business. The company's name was established from the origin of place in Victoria, Australia and the business has continued for more than 100 years. Bulla Dairy Foods has expanded internationally, exporting its products to 17 countries, as well as supplying their products nationally within Australia to supermarket retailers. The company employs more than 600 people across three manufacturing sites across Victoria in Colac, Dandenong, and Mulgrave and a head office and distribution centre in Derrimut, Melbourne. In 2015, Bulla Dairy Foods released a new campaign with the tagline "Unfakeable" to emphasise the company's Australian heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Foods</span> American food and beverage company

Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. The company's products included milk, ice cream, dairy products, cheese, juice, and teas. It processed milk in the United States under a number of regional and national brands. Founded in 1925, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2019, and its assets were acquired by several buyers in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy Farmers of America</span> U.S. national milk marketing cooperative

Dairy Farmers of America Inc. (DFA) is a national milk marketing cooperative in the United States. DFA markets members' raw milk and sells milk and derivative products to wholesale buyers both domestically and abroad. Net sales in 2016 were $13.5 billion, representing about 22 percent of raw milk production in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey Hill (company)</span> American based food and beverage company

Turkey Hill Dairy, or simply known as Turkey Hill, is an American brand of iced tea, ice cream and other beverages and frozen desserts distributed throughout the United States and internationally. The company, which is headquartered in Conestoga, Pennsylvania, was a subsidiary of Kroger from 1985 until it was sold to private equity firm Peak Rock Capital in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kawartha Dairy Company</span>

Kawartha Dairy Company is a Canadian family owned and operated dairy based in Bobcaygeon, Ontario in the City of Kawartha Lakes. The company was founded in 1937 and it remains family owned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Express Dairies</span>

Express Dairies is a former brand of Dairy Crest, that specialised almost entirely in home deliveries of milk, and other dairy products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine's Own Organic Milk Company</span> Dairy company

Maine’s Own Organic Milk Company, L3C, or MOOMilkCo, was a low-profit, partly farmer-owned, L3C corporation set up to help Maine organic family dairy farms maintain a market and achieve profitability. It was established with 10 organic dairy farms that were dropped by H.P. Hood, a large dairy product distributor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lactalis</span> French multinational corporation

Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA.

Danone North America is a consumer packaged food and beverage company based in White Plains, New York, U.S, that manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells branded premium dairy products, plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers, and organic produce throughout North America and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heluva Good!</span> American company

Heluva Good! is an American company specializing in cheeses, chip dips, sour cream and condiments. It has been a subsidiary of dairy company HP Hood LLC since the acquisition of Crowley Foods in 2004. The primary offices for the company are in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Heluva Good! products are sold in grocery stores throughout much of the United States and Canada. A Heluva Good! Country Store was located in Wallington, New York, just east of the village of Sodus which first opened in 1980. All cheese products were packaged at a plant in Sodus, New York. Both locations closed on June 26, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balford Farms</span>

Balford Farms is an American dairy company located in Burlington, New Jersey. It is the oldest privately-owned and operated independent distributor in the Lehigh Valley region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upstate Niagara Cooperative</span>

Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is an American dairy cooperative located in Buffalo, New York. Products provided by the cooperative include milk, cream, butter, yogurt, half and half, juices, egg nog, cottage cheese, sour cream, ice cream mix and chip dips. Upstate Niagara Cooperative is owned by farmers throughout western New York State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemps (company)</span> American dairy company

Kemps is an American dairy company located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It has been a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America since being purchased in 2011 from HP Hood LLC. Dairy Farmers of America is based in Kansas City, Missouri, but Kemps continues to be headquartered in St. Paul. Products provided by the company include milk, cottage cheese, half and half, egg nog, cream, juices, sour cream, chip dips, ice cream, yogurt and novelties. Most of these products are sold at grocery stores throughout the midwestern United States, but some are available in other parts of the country as well. Kemps currently operates five manufacturing facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Pearl Dairy Farms Limited, often referred to as Pearl Dairy, is a dairy processing company in Uganda.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Crowley Foods (About Crowley Foods), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Pressconnects, Press & Sun Bulletin, Kosher dairy starts production at former Crowley plant by Jeff Platsky, November 30, 2016, Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ Crowley Foods (Our Products), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ Alice Maggiore "HP Hood Halts Milk Production" WBNG Channel 12 Action News, (December 6, 2011)], Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ Anna Norris "Conklin Dairy Distribution Center Staying Open" Archived 2015-02-07 at the Wayback Machine WBNG Channel 12 Action News (September 26, 2014)], Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Balford Farms Buys Crowley's", Binghamton.com (September 26, 2014), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ Binghamton Homepage, Crowley factory lofts housing project planned by Noah Holloway, December 30, 2022, Retrieved Sep. 2, 2023.
  8. ↑ WNBF News Radio 92.1 FM, Equipment Removed From Former Binghamton Crowley Milk Plant by Bob Joseph, December 19, 2022, Retrieved Sep. 2, 2023.
  9. ↑ 1920 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Old Cardboard, Featured Set: 1940 Crowley's Milk (baseball cards), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Crowley Plant in Binghamton Begins to be Sold Off" The Whale 99.1 FM, by Big Wally (March 25, 2013), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Crowley's Opens Newburgh Plant" Fulton History, Binghamton Press,(March 6, 1950) page 5, Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ Blogspot, Bob Lemke's Blog: "Auction exposes Bianci as super-common in 1940 Crowley's Milk Binghamton team set." (October 21, 2013), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Kosher Dairy Plant to Open in Former Crowley Site" Press & Sun Bulletin by Jon Harris, Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  15. ↑ "New Products Company 2005: Crowley Foods, Binghamton, N.Y." Dairy Foods (November 1, 2005), Retrieved Feb. 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ Axelrod Foods (History), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  17. ↑ "A Heluva Good Idea", Associated Press, PostStar (September 15, 2002), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 Philly.com, "Maggios Sell Their Cheese Business The S. Phila. Producer of Ricotta And Mozzarella is Quitting After 82 Years" by Rosland Briggs (July 14, 1998), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  19. 1 2 Anthony Salamone "Rosenberger's Dairies Sold Again" The Morning Call (October 29, 2014), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
  20. ↑ 1000 Islands Ag Tour (HP Hood LLC), Retrieved Feb. 6, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.