Ovson Egg

Last updated

Ovson Egg was an American food processing company founded in 1919 to provide frozen, canned and dried eggs to manufacturers of products such as cookies, cakes, custards, egg noodles, beverages, ice cream, macaroni, mayonnaise, salad dressing and puddings. The National Dairy Products Corporation became a majority investor in the company in 1929, and it became part of Kraft Foods in 1952.

Contents

Founding

Breaking and freezing of eggs began in U.S. in the 1890s in Minneapolis, Minnesota. George Dole, who owned one of the first cold storage facilities in the United States, and former school teacher H. J. Keith were the first to open an egg-breaking business, the H.J. Keith Company. They also began separating yolks from whites and selling them as separate products. In 1898, Keith made a deal with H. A. Perry of Salina, Kansas. Perry was the founder of Seymour Foods, and had invented a hand-operated yolk-and-white separator which dramatically improved productivity. [1] Keith licensed this technology from Perry and dramatically increased production. [2]

Morris Ovson was a Russian citizen who emigrated to the United States in 1904 and became an American citizen in 1909. Ovson found employment as an egg candler for the H.J. Keith Company. [3] In time, Ovson became a processing operations inspector and opened new production and processing facilities for the company. Keith also sent Ovson to Europe to learn how to produce dried eggs. In 1917, Keith sent Morris to Shanghai to open a new dried and frozen egg production company, the Amos Bird Company (which became part of The Borden Food Corporation). [3]

But Ovson did not want to move to China. He had married the former Ida Karelitz in 1910, and the couple had three young sons (Leo, Gene, and Hank). Leo and Gene joined Morris into the frozen egg business. Morris Ovson returned to the United States in 1919, formed a business partnership with Keith, and founded the Ovson-Keith Egg Company. To secure additional capital, C. J. Bowman and W. F. Priebe became investors and associates in the firm, and the company name was changed to the Bowman-Priebe-Ovson Company.

1920s

On September 19, 1922, Morris Ovson was awarded a patent for "Mocoyolk" (U.S. Patent No. 1,429,559), a product which is 95 percent yolk and 5 percent glycerine which helps preserve the consistency of egg and keeps baked products moist.

In 1929, the Bowman-Priebe-Ovson Company was reorganized and became the Ovson Egg Company. Financial difficulties created by the Great Depression led the National Dairy Products Corporation (now Kraft Foods) to invest in the company and take a non-controlling majority interest in the firm. [4]

1930s and 1940s

By 1937, the two largest processed egg companies in the United States were Standard Brands (which became part of Nabisco and eventually Kraft Foods) and the Ovson Egg Company. Ovson Egg had seven plants, located in Chicago, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Davenport, Iowa; Moberly, Missouri; Great Bend, Kansas; and Parsons, Kansas. The Shanghai plant was the largest egg processing facility in Asia. [3]

As the demand for eggs products soared during World War II, Ovson Egg's profits soared. Ovson Egg was one of the few American firms which manufactured dried and powdered eggs, and it became a significant supplier of egg products to the U.S. military. [2]

In 1948, Leo and Morris Ovson opened an Ovson Egg plant in Neosho, Missouri. The plant was built by R. A. Haas, owner of Haas Cold Storage. Haas leased space to Ovson Egg, and Haas Cold Storage handled the processed eggs.

In 1952, Kraft Foods purchased National Dairy Products. Ovson Egg became part of Kraft, although the Ovson Egg offices remained in Chicago.

Shortly after the Kraft purchase, Morris and Leo Ovson were indicted on June 14, 1955, for perjury in a labor racketeering investigation. Both men lied to a federal grand jury about giving money to Joseph Glimco, president of Local 777 of the Taxicab Drivers Union, and to Max Podolsky, a union organizer for the Egg Inspectors Union. Joseph and Max were involved in the buying, selling, inspection and moving of eggs at the Fulton Street Egg Market in Chicago, one of the nation's largest egg trading boards. William Holloway, an accountant for Ovson Egg, was also indicted. [5] Morris Ovson agreed to plead guilty to one charge in exchange for the district attorney dropping two additional charges against him and the lone charge against Leo Ovson. Due to his age, poor health, and retirement from the frozen egg business, Morris Ovson was not sentenced to prison but only to one year of probation. [6]

Morris Ovson died in 1961 at the age of 77. [7]

Current status

As of 2007, Ovson Egg was still a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. It maintains offices in New York City, Kansas City, Missouri and Shanghai. Ovson Egg provides products almost exclusively for use by other Kraft subsidiaries.[ citation needed ]

Notes

  1. ↑ The egg separator remained state-of-the-art technology from 1900 to the advent of World War II.
  2. 1 2 Stadelman, Egg Science and Technology, 1995.
  3. 1 2 3 "Frozen Eggs," Time, April 12, 1937.
  4. ↑ "National Dairy Buys Two Concerns," New York Times, September 20, 1929.
  5. ↑ "Indict Three for Perjury in Glimco Probe," Chicago Daily Tribune, June 21, 1955.
  6. ↑ "U.S. District 12 Court Archives," Cases 55.340 and 55.341
  7. ↑ "Morris Ovson," New York Times, September 7, 1961.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadbury</span> British multinational confectionery company

Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Greater London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is known for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best-known British brands, in 2013 The Daily Telegraph named Cadbury among Britain's most successful exports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macaroni and cheese</span> Pasta dish

Macaroni and cheese is a dish of macaroni and a cheese sauce, most commonly cheddar sauce.

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

The second incarnation of Kraft Foods was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July 2, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frozen custard</span> Frozen dessert

Frozen custard is a frozen dessert that is a type of ice cream that is made with egg yolks in addition to cream and sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and an additional flavoring such as cocoa, vanilla, or fruit such as strawberries or peaches. It is usually kept at a warmer temperature compared to ice cream, and typically has a denser consistency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Mayer</span> American meat production company

Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut producer known for its hot dogs, bologna, bacon, ham, and Lunchables products. The company is a subsidiary of the Kraft Heinz Company and based in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Foods</span> Defunct food company, absorbed into Kraft Foods Inc

General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braum's</span> American restaurant chain

Braum's is an American chain of ice cream parlor and fast food restaurants. Based in Oklahoma City, Braum's was founded in 1968 by William Henry "Bill" Braum in Oklahoma City. The company operates over 300 restaurants in 5 states, primarily in the Southern United States, namely the West South Central states of Oklahoma and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American cheese</span> Type of processed cheese

American cheese is a type of processed cheese made from cheddar, Colby, or similar cheeses, in conjunction with sodium citrate, which permits the cheese to be pasteurized without its components separating. It is mild with a creamy and salty flavor, has a medium-firm consistency, and has a low melting point. It is typically yellow or white in color; yellow American cheese is seasoned and colored with annatto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Products</span>

Rich Products Corporation is a privately held multinational food products corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company was founded in 1945 by Robert E. Rich, Sr., after his development of a non-dairy whipped topping based on soybean oil, 21 years before Cool Whip. Since then, the company has expanded its non-dairy frozen food offerings and also supplies products to retailers, bakeries, and foodservice providers.

Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food conglomerate founded in 1894. One of the best-known food processing companies in the U.S., Beatrice owned many well-known brands such as Tropicana, Krispy Kreme, Jolly Rancher, Orville Redenbacher's, Swiss Miss, Peter Pan, Avis, Milk Duds, Samsonite, Playtex, La Choy and Dannon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwan's Company</span> Food company

Schwan's Company, formerly known as The Schwan Food Company, is a food company with approximately 7,500 employees. Having originated in the United States as a family-owned business, since 2019 the company has been a subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang of South Korea — with five major business units including Schwan's Consumer Brands, Schwan's Food Service, Strategic Partner Solutions and SFC Global Supply Chain. Schwan's Company no longer owns the home-delivery business that was known as Schwan's Home Service, which rebranded to Yelloh in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egg Beaters</span> Brand of packaged egg whites

Egg Beaters is a product marketed in the United States as a healthy substitute for whole eggs. It is a substitute for whole/fresh eggs that contains less cholesterol, but it is not an egg substitute. Egg Beaters is primarily egg whites with added flavorings, vitamins, and thickeners xanthan gum and guar gum. It contains real egg whites, but no egg yolks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kraft Foods Inc.</span> Defunct American food and beverage company

Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. Twelve of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oreo, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, and Tang. Forty of its brands were at least a century old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sealtest Dairy</span> American dairy products manufacturer

Sealtest Dairy is a Good Humor-Breyers brand for dairy products. Formerly a division of National Dairy Products Corporation of Delaware, it produced milk, cream, ice cream, and lemonade. The Sealtest brand was also later used by various companies in Canada under license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebro Foods</span> Food processing company

Ebro Foods, S.A., formerly Ebro Puleva, is a Spanish food processing company. Ebro Foods is the world's largest producer of rice and the second biggest producer of pasta. The company's head office is in Madrid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pet, Inc.</span> Former American branded foods company

Pet, Inc. was an American company that was the first to commercially produce evaporated milk as a shelf-stable consumer product with its "PET Milk" brand. While evaporated milk was popular before refrigerators were common in homes, sales peaked in the 1950s and it is now a niche product used in baking and as a cooking ingredient.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Glimco</span> Italian-American mobster and labor leader

Joseph Paul Glimco was an Italian-American labor leader and well-known organized crime figure based in Chicago. He was considered "Chicago's top labor racketeer" in the 1950s. One high-ranking Chicago Teamsters leader noted in 1954, "He is the mob. When he opens his mouth, it's the syndicate talking". Glimco was active in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and a close associate of Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa. He was a capo in the Chicago Outfit, an organized crime syndicate, and oversaw the syndicate's labor racketeering efforts. He worked closely with Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo, who led the Chicago Outfit from 1943 to 1957, and Sam "Momo" Giancana, who led the syndicate from 1957 to 1966. A United States Senate committee once claimed that Glimco ran "the nation's most corrupt union".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bega Group</span> Australian cheese manufacturer

The Bega Group is an Australian diversified food and drinks company with manufacturing sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Founded as an agricultural cooperative in the town of Bega, New South Wales by their dairy suppliers, it became a public company in 2011 when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Close to half of shares publicly traded are still held by Bega's farmer-suppliers. It is currently one of the largest companies in the dairy sector in Australia, with a base milk supply in 2018 of approximately 750 million litres per annum.

Nature's Fynd is a company that develops microbe-based proteins for meat substitutes and dairy substitutes. The protein is produced by a fungus first identified in geothermal springs in Yellowstone National Park.

References

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.