Fleischmann's Yeast

Last updated

Fleischmann's Yeast is an American brand of yeast founded by Hungarian-American businessman Charles Louis Fleischmann. It is currently owned by Associated British Foods and is sold to both consumer and industrial markets in the United States and Canada.

Contents

The yeast is available in a number of different forms with various qualities and intended uses. Fleischmann's is also a brand name of corn oil margarine.

History

The company was founded by Hungarian Jews Charles Louis Fleischmann, his brother Maximilian, and James Gaff in Riverside, Cincinnati, in 1868, [1] as Gaff, Fleischmann & Company. They exhibited their yeast at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. After Gaff's death in 1881, the name was changed to Fleischmann and Company, and then The Fleischmann Company in 1905. [2]

In 1924, the brothers' nephew Raoul Fleischmann, using the wealth generated by the family business, provided the funding for the launch of The New Yorker with his friend Harold Ross. Raoul invested $700,000 before the magazine became profitable, and he was the magazine's publisher until his death in 1969. [3]

In 1929, the company was merged into Standard Brands by J.P. Morgan, and that same year the company began the sponsorship of the musical variety radio program, The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour starring Rudy Vallée. [4]

In the 1930s, the company's advertisements highlighted "intestinal fatigue", a condition said to be brought on by the pressures of modern civilization. The ads claimed that Fleischmann's Yeast was an effective treatment for the condition, despite protests by the American Medical Association. [5] In 1936, Consumer Reports disputed Fleischmann Yeast's advertising claims that it cured constipation and acne. [6]

1932 advertisement, promoting cakes of fresh yeast as a laxative and tonic Fleischmann's Yeast advertisement, 1932.jpg
1932 advertisement, promoting cakes of fresh yeast as a laxative and tonic

Standard Brands merged with Nabisco Brands, Inc. in 1981.

In 1986, RJR Nabisco sold Fleischmann's to the Australian company Burns Philp for $130 million. [7]

Burns Philp sold its yeast business to Associated British Foods in 2004 for US$1.4 billion. [8] [9]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in March and for subsequent months, Fleischmann's struggled to meet surging demand for its products, as house-bound consumers sought to produce more of their own baked goods. The company faced shortages of raw materials and the lengthy process of yeast production limited production. [10]

Products

Common forms of yeast Fleischmann's make are: (i) cubes or "cakes" of compressed fresh yeast wrapped in foil, an original form of packaged yeast that is soft and perishable; (ii) packets of Active Dry Yeast, a shelf stable granular yeast invented by Fleischmann during World War II; (iii) packets of RapidRise yeast intended to reduce dough rising time by as much as 50% by bypassing the first rise; (iv) bread machine yeast, an instant yeast sold in a glass jar; and (v) pizza crust yeast, an instant yeast packaged with enzymes and dough relaxers such as L-Cysteine intended to add pliability to dough and reduce the amount of time needed to make a fresh pizza crust. [11]

Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast is the best-known of their yeast products due to its extended shelf life compared to fresh yeast.

Presidents

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company</span> American tobacco manufacturing company

The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American, after merging with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker's yeast</span> Yeast used as a leavening agent in baking

Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used in baking bread and other bakery products, serving as a leavening agent which causes the bread to rise by converting the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Baker's yeast is of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and is the same species as the kind commonly used in alcoholic fermentation, which is called brewer's yeast or the deactivated form nutritional yeast. Baker's yeast is also a single-cell microorganism found on and around the human body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bagel</span> Ring-shaped bread product

A bagel is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabisco</span> American snack company

Nabisco is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RJR Nabisco</span> U.S. consumer staples company (1985–1999)

R. J. Reynolds Nabisco, Inc., doing business as RJR Nabisco, was an American conglomerate, selling tobacco and food products, headquartered in the Calyon Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. R. J. Reynolds Nabisco stopped operating as a single entity in 1999. Both RJR and Nabisco still exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cream of Wheat</span> Brand name of breakfast porridge

Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first manufactured in the United States in 1893 by wheat millers in Grand Forks, North Dakota and debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a "chocolatey" coating. It was invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923. A popularity contest chose the name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bread machine</span> Type of home appliance for baking bread

A bread making machine or breadmaker is a home appliance for baking bread. It consists of a bread pan, at the bottom of which are one or more built-in paddles, mounted in the center of a small special-purpose oven. The machine is usually controlled by a built-in computer using settings input via a control panel. Most bread machines have different cycles for different kinds of dough—including white bread, whole grain, European-style, and dough-only. Many also have a timer to allow the bread machine to function without operator input, and some high-end models allow the user to program a custom cycle.

Fleischmann's vodka is an 80 proof vodka distilled from grain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Associated British Foods</span> British food company

Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shreddies</span> Breakfast cereal made from wheat

Shreddies are a breakfast cereal marketed in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was first produced in Canada in 1939 by Nabisco. The Shreddies brand is held by Post Consumer Brands in Canada, and Nestlé in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Smith's Snackfood Company</span> Snack food manufacturing company

The Smith's Snackfood Company is a British-Australian snack food brand owned by the American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation PepsiCo. It is best known for its brand of potato crisps. The company was founded by Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom in 1920 as Smiths Potato Crisps Ltd, originally packaging a twist of salt with its crisps in greaseproof paper bags which were sold around London. The dominant brand in the UK until the 1960s when Golden Wonder took over with Cheese & Onion, Smith's countered by creating Salt & Vinegar flavour which was launched nationally in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltine cracker</span> American salted square cracker

A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square, cracker, made from white flour, sometimes yeast, and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surface, as well as a distinctively dry and crisp texture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal cracker</span> Cracker baked in the shape of an animal

An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, but darker chocolate-flavored and colorful frosted varieties are also sold. Although animal crackers tend to be sweet in flavor like cookies, they are made with a layered dough like crackers and are marketed as crackers and not cookies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Monte Foods</span> North American food production and distribution company

Del Monte Foods Inc. is an American food production and distribution company and subsidiary of NutriAsia, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributors and marketers of branded processed food for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $1.73 billion of annual sales. Its portfolio of brands includes Del Monte, S&W, Contadina, College Inn, Kitchen Basics, Joyba, and Take Root. Greg Longstreet is the current Chief Executive Officer of Del Monte Foods. Several Del Monte products hold the number one or two market share position. The company also produces, distributes and markets private-label food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Louis Fleischmann</span> Hungarian-American manufacturer (1835–1897)

Charles Louis Fleischmann was a Jewish Hungarian-American manufacturer of yeast who founded Fleischmann Yeast Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Fleischmann</span> American politician (1871–1925)

Julius Augustus Fleischmann was an American businessman, the long-time president of Fleischmann's Yeast, and a former mayor of Cincinnati. A bon vivant, sailor, and sportsman, he was the son of yeast magnate Charles Louis Fleischmann.

Standard Brands was a packaged foods company, formed in 1929 by J. P. Morgan & Co. with the merger of:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Baking Powder Company</span> American baking powder company

The Royal Baking Powder Company was one of the largest producers of baking powder in the United States. Royal Baking Powder is still marketed today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chun King</span> U.S. marketed Chinese food products

Chun King was an American brand of canned Chinese food products founded in the 1940s by Jeno Paulucci, whose company also developed Jeno's Pizza Rolls and frozen pizza, and the Michelina's brand of frozen food products, among many others. By 1962, Chun King was bringing in $30 million in annual revenue and accounted for half of all U.S. sales of prepared Chinese food. In 1966, it was sold to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for $63 million.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Morgan Mergers". Time . 1929. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved 2008-08-04. But also announced last week was a Morgan-managed merger of Fleischmann Co., Royal Baking Powder Co., and E. W. Gillett, Ltd. ... No transportation problem existed in 1868 when Charles and Maximilian Fleischmann, immigrants from Austria-Hungary, and James Gaff of Cincinnati, founded Gaff, Fleischmann & Co. at Riverside, Ohio. Their first great forward step was made in 1876 when they exhibited a Model Vienna Bakery at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. From the fame of this exhibit came an increased demand for Fleischmann's yeast. Soon there was a Fleischmann plant on Long Island, then another at Peekskill, N. Y, Guiding spirit of the early Fleischmann company was Charles Fleischmann, who died in 1897. It was under the leadership (1897-1925) of the late Julius Fleischmann that the company went through its major expansion period. Following his death, his brother, Major Max C. Fleischmann, stepped to the front.
  2. Andes, Karrie K.; Norman, Sandra J. (1998). Vintage Cookbooks and Advertising Leaflets. Schiffer Publishing. p. 39. ISBN   0764306219.
  3. "Raoul H. Fleischmann, Publisher of the New Yorker, Dies at 83; Raoul Fleischmann of the New Yorker Dies at 83". The New York Times.
  4. "Pennies from Leaven". Time . 1940. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. Retrieved 2008-08-04. But in spite of interests that have ranged from racing horses to backing ballets, the outdoorsy Fleischmann clan had something to worry about last week. For the descendants and in-laws of old Charles Fleischmann, who started a great industry in 1868 by peddling yeast in Cincinnati, are now the holders of close to 10% of the 12,648,108 outstanding common shares of huge Standard Brands Inc. And this No. 2 U.S. packaged food company (No. 1, General Foods) is not doing anything like as handsomely as the House of Morgan thought it would when it put it together around the Fleischmann Co. back in 1929.
  5. Cross, Mary (2002). A Century of American Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture. Greenwood Press. pp. 84–86. ISBN   978-0313314810 . Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  6. "The Good Housekeeping Institute". Consumer Reports . July 1936. p. 2.
  7. "RJR Nabisco Sale". The New York Times. 1986-05-06. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  8. Newswires, Richard Noonan Dow Jones (2004-07-22). "Burns Philp Agrees to Unload Its Spices, Core Yeast Business". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  9. "London-based food company buys Fleischmann's Yeast". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  10. Mak, Aaron (15 April 2020). "The Reason There's Still a Yeast Shortage". Slate.
  11. Brown, Davis (2022-11-28). "Is Pizza Yeast the Same as Instant Yeast? (Explained) - The WhiteMeal" . Retrieved 2022-12-01.