Product type | Mustard, condiments, food items |
---|---|
Owner | McCormick & Company |
Country | Rochester, New York United States |
Introduced | 1904 |
Markets | Worldwide |
Previous owners | R.T. French Company Reckitt Benckiser |
Website | www |
French's is an American brand of prepared mustard, condiments, fried onions, and other food items that was created by Robert Timothy French. French's "Cream Salad Brand" mustard debuted to the world at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. By 1921, French's Mustard had adopted its trademark pennant and begun advertising to the general public. French's is now owned by McCormick & Company. [1]
Brothers Robert and George French bought a flour mill in 1883 in Fairport, New York. It burned down in 1884 and they relocated the flour mill to Rochester, New York. They named their mill the R.T. French Company. Robert French died in 1893 and brother George became company president. George (who developed the creamy yellow mustard) and another brother, Francis, introduced French's mustard in 1904.
In 1926, French's was sold to J. & J. Colman of the United Kingdom, a company that produced home care products such as Lysol, Reckitt's Blue and Brasso, and its own mustard brand, as well as other products such as the Frank's RedHot condiment line. [2]
In 1928, the Atlantis Sales Corporation was formed as a subsidiary of R. T. French to handle sales and distribution of French's, Reckitt, and Colman products. [3] Atlantis remained a separate entity through the nineteen-fifties.
In 1960, French's purchased L. C. Forman and Sons Pickle Company of Pittsford, New York. Forman produced a variety of pickle products, including a well-known piccalilli relish. [4]
In 1965, French's introduced a new line of "Cattlemen’s" barbecue sauce. The line was inaugurated with the trip of a horse-drawn "chuck wagon" from Buffalo, New York, across upstate New York to New York City and then to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June, 1965. [5]
In 1970, the company purchased Widmer Wine Cellars of Naples, New York. The winery was sold in 1983. [6]
In 1985, the company sold its instant potato operations in Shelley, Idaho, to Pillsbury. [7]
In 1986, Reckitt & Colman acquired Durkee Famous Foods; in 1987 and consolidated headquarters in New Jersey. Durkee's French onions became French's crispy fried onions. [8] [9]
In 1999, Reckitt & Colman merged with Benckiser NV to form Reckitt Benckiser.
In 2017, McCormick & Company acquired French's from Reckitt Benckiser. [10]
For many years, the fictitious "Carol French" was the face of the company. Her name appeared on numerous recipes and cookbooks, the oldest of which may be Dining Delights from 1948. [11] [12]
Until 1987, French's headquarters was located in Rochester, New York. [13] The headquarters is now located in Chester, New Jersey. During its heyday, French's was a sponsor of the local weather forecast, featuring its address prominently in television advertising. They also were a prominent sponsor of the Rochester Red Wings baseball club, often in conjunction with a local brand of hot dogs, Zweigle's. The former headquarters location at 1 Mustard Street is now home to a variety of professional offices and public agencies.
French's also had facilities in Shelley, Idaho, for potato products. A plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania, was constructed in 1957 and closed in the 1990s. A plant in Fresno, California, closed in 1994. Manufacturing operations were consolidated in Springfield, Missouri.
Historically, R. T. French variously manufactured a line of spices and extracts, condiments, pickle products, sauces and gravy mixes, instant potato products, and pet care products, in particular canary and parakeet seeds.
As of 2016, in certain markets French's markets mustards, Worcestershire sauce, a line of mayonnaise-based products, ketchup, barbecue sauce, potato sticks, and fried jalapeños, as well as a line of French's fried onions. [14]
A potato chip or crisp is a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The basic chips are cooked and salted; additional varieties are manufactured using various flavorings and ingredients including herbs, spices, cheeses, other natural flavors, artificial flavors, and additives.
McCormick & Company, Incorporated is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavoring products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses.
Rémoulade is a cold sauce. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and often contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items.
Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited range of products, almost all being varieties of mustard.
A dip or dip sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato chips, tortilla chips, falafel, and sometimes even whole sandwiches in the case of jus. Unlike other sauces, instead of applying the sauce to the food, the food is typically placed or dipped into the sauce.
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merger of British company Reckitt & Colman plc and Dutch company Benckiser N.V.
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
Keen's is a brand of seasoning products produced by McCormick Foods Australia, the Australian branch of the American food company McCormick & Company, and by McCormick Canada in Canada. The Keen's brand has a long history and remains a common item in kitchens throughout Australia. The brand is particularly well known for its distinctive yellow and orange tins.
Frank's RedHot is a hot sauce made from a variety of cayenne peppers, produced by McCormick & Company. The Original blend ranks low on the Scoville scale, with 450 SHUs, but the XTRA Hot variety measures 2,000 SHUs.
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant.
Sir Kensington's is an American food company with headquarters in New York City, New York. It was founded by Mark Ramadan, Scott Norton, Brandon Child, and Win Bennett. The company produces Non-GMO Project Verified condiments including ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, ranch dressing, and "Fabanaise", a vegan mayo whose name is a portmanteau of the substitute ingredient aquafaba and mayonnaise which it mimics.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the third or fourth quarter of McCormick's fiscal year, which ends in November. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.