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| Formerly | King Kone Corp. (until 1960) |
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| Type | Subsidiary |
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Key people | Morrie Yohai |
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Old London Foods, a subsidiary of B&G Foods, is a company best known for its Melba toast products. Originally based in the Bronx and called the King Kone Corporation, the company changed its name to Old London Foods in May 1960 to match their best-known brand of food products, Old London, which had been in use for nearly 25 years. [1]
The company was founded as a manufacturer of food machinery by Harry Tatosian, who invented the machines, and Robert J. Yohai, vice president and sales manager. After a trip to London where they had installed automated baking machines for a client, Tatosian and Yohai decided to invest $4,000 to start manufacturing food themselves using their machines. Their first products were baked ice cream cones sold under the brand name "Old London" based on their recent experience in that city. The company was called the King Kone Corporation. [1]
The company began producing one of its most notable products, Melba toast, in 1932 when it installed its first purpose-built Melba ovens. [2] In the 1950s, company executive Morrie Yohai invented a cheese-flavored, baked cornmeal puff he named "Cheez Doodles" that became one of the company's most popular products in the Northeastern US. [3]
The company acquired Dallas-based corn chip producer Circle D Foods, Inc. in 1959. [1]
By 1960, King Kone's products were sold in 250,000 supermarkets and restaurants in the United States and its "Dipsy Doodles" brand of corn chips was the second-best selling corn chip in the country behind Fritos. King Kone's snack division also produced popcorn in caramel, cheese and unflavored varieties, and was the largest producer of popcorn for home consumption as of 1960. Manhattan's famed Sardi's restaurant included Old London crackers by name on the menu for its "executive weight watchers" meal. [1]
The company changed its name from King Kone Corporation to Old London Foods in May 1960 to take advantage of customer awareness of their product brand label. [1]
In 1965, the company was bought out by Borden, which added the Old London products to its portfolio of snack products that included Cracker Jack and Drake's Cakes. Ownership and production of the Cheez Doodles and Dipsy Doodles brands was transferred to Borden's Wise Foods potato chip division. [3]
In 1986, Old London's remaining operations were acquired from Borden by CPC International for approximately $25 million (equivalent to $61.8 million in 2021). The new owner grouped Old London with its other baking acquisitions, Arnold Foods Company and S. B. Thomas, as the Best Foods Baking Group. [4] In 1997, Old London was bought out from CPC by a group of managers backed by the private equity firm Dubilier & Company. [5]
The company was acquired by Nonni Foods, makers of flatbread products, in 2005 for $70 million (equivalent to $97.1 million in 2021). Nonni Foods was acquired by Chipita and changed its name to Chipita America. [6] By 2010 Old London's Old London and Devonsheer brands were sold in 90% of American supermarkets. [5]
On October 31, 2012, B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE : BGS) purchased Old London from Chipita America. [7]
One of the company's oldest product successes was its line of Melba toast. Melba toast dates back to 1897, when Nellie Melba complained to chef Auguste Escoffier that her toasted bread was too thick. He gave her bread that had been toasted extremely thin and named it "Melba toast" after her. Old London began manufacturing Melba toast in 1932 after installing a purpose-built Melba oven. The product line originally consisted of packages of square-shaped toast for individual consumption but later variations included restaurant packs of toast and rounds. [2]
After its acquisition of Old London in 2012, the Old London brand of Melba toast was owned and produced by B&G. [7]
The "Cheez Doodles" brand of cheese-flavored puffed cornmeal snack was invented in the 1950s by Old London executive Morrie Yohai. The company produced a machine that could extrude cornmeal under pressure through a narrow hole. The extruded cornmeal was then cut to 3-inch (76 mm) lengths by a blade and baked with orange cheddar cheese and flavorings. [3] The name came to Yohai while he sat around the table with other employees sampling different alternatives for the cheese flavoring. [8]
When Borden bought Old London in 1965, the Cheez Doodles brand and production were transferred to Borden's Wise Foods potato chip division. Wise continued to produce Cheez Doodles. [9]
Dipsy Doodles were a brand of rippled corn chips produced by Old London starting in the 1950s. The chips were produced by extrusion, similar to the later Cheez Doodles, with cornmeal being extruded under pressure through a "W"-shaped opening. [10] After acquiring corn chip producer Circle D Foods in 1959, Old London's "Dipsy Doodles" brand of corn chips became the second-best selling corn chip in the United States behind Fritos. [1]
After Borden's 1965 acquisition of Old London, ownership and production of the Dipsy Doodles brand was transferred to Borden's Wise division which continued to produce Dipsy Doodles. [10]
The company was long based on East 138th Street in a six-story building in the Bronx, where it ran two shifts year-round and added a third shift during the winter season. [1] In 1968, it opened a bakery in Morris Park, Bronx. [5]
The lack of open space in its Bronx factory meant that the toasted product had to be moved between floors for different production steps. To resolve this issue, the facility, which had employed 228 workers, was shut down in February 2010 and production was relocated to a much larger one in Yadkinville, North Carolina. [5]
Chipita's sale of Old London to B&G included the Yadkinville manufacturing facility and its approximately 250 employees. [7]
Doritos is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in 1967 and Nacho Cheese in 1972. Other specialty flavors began to make their debut during the late 1980s. The concept for Doritos originated in a restaurant at Disneyland.
A cracker is a flat, dry baked biscuit typically made with flour. Flavorings or seasonings, such as salt, herbs, seeds, or cheese, may be added to the dough or sprinkled on top before baking. Crackers are often branded as a nutritious and convenient way to consume a staple food or cereal grain.
A muffin is an individually portioned baked product, however the term can refer to one of two distinct items: a part-raised flatbread that is baked and then cooked on a griddle, or a quickbread that is chemically leavened and then baked in a mold. While quickbread "American" muffins are often sweetened, there are savory varieties made with ingredients such as corn and cheese, and less sweet varieties like traditional bran muffins. The flatbread "English" variety is of British or other European derivation, and dates from at least the early 18th century, while the quickbread originated in North America during the 19th century. Both types are common worldwide today.
Cheez Whiz is a brand of processed cheese sauce or spread produced by Kraft Foods. It was developed by a team led by food scientist Edwin Traisman (1915–2007). It was first sold in 1952, and with some changes in formulation continues to be in production today.
Cheetos is a crunchy corn puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company in 1961 to form Frito-Lay. In 1965 Frito-Lay became a subsidiary of The Pepsi-Cola Company, forming PepsiCo, the current owner of the Cheetos brand.
Fritos is an American brand of corn chips and dipping sauces that was created in 1932 by Charles Elmer Doolin and has been produced since 1961 by the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo. Fritos are made by deep-frying extruded whole cornmeal, unlike the similar tortilla chips, which are made from cornmeal and use the nixtamalization process. It is one of two brands representing Frito-Lay along with Lay's.
Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods is an American food company, operating as a subsidiary of Old Dutch Foods, that packages and sells snack foods. The company is named after the nursery rhyme character and features the character as the company logo. Humpty Dumpty products are generally sold in New England, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
Cheez Doodles are a cheese puff produced by Wise Foods. Originally developed and manufactured in 1964 by King Kone Corp. of the Bronx, New York, it became the prevalent cheese puff snack on the East Coast.
Pirate's Booty is a puffed corn and rice snack food developed and produced in 1987 by Robert Ehrlich. B&G Foods acquired Robert's American Gourmet Food in June 2013.
Jays Foods, Inc., is an American manufacturer of snack products including potato chips, popcorn and pretzels. Jays Foods was founded in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, and is currently a subsidiary of Snyder's of Hanover. Operating in several Midwestern states, Jays Foods' potato chips and popcorn maintain significant shares of their respective markets.
Wise Foods, Inc. is a company based in Berwick, Pennsylvania, that makes snacks and sells them through retail food outlets in 15 eastern seaboard states, as well as Vermont, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. Best known for its several varieties of potato chips, Wise also offers Cheez Doodles, bagged popcorn, tortilla chips, pork rinds, onion rings, Dipsy Doodle chips, nachos, Quinlan brand pretzels, and French onion dips.
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Mrs. Cubbison's Foods is a company that specializes in stuffing products. Founded in the U.S. in 1948 by Sophie Cubbison, Mrs. Cubbison’s Foods has grown to include other products, such as croutons and meatloaf mix.
Morrie Robert Yohai was an American food company executive best known for his creation of Cheez Doodles, a cylindrical baked cornmeal puff most often with a cheddar cheese flavor.
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B&G Foods is an American branded foods holding company based in Parsippany, New Jersey. The company was formed in 1996 to acquire Bloch & Guggenheimer, a Manhattan-based producer of pickles, relish and condiments which had been founded in 1889.
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