Wise Foods

Last updated
Wise Foods, Inc.
FormerlyWise Potato Chip Company
Type Private
Industry Food
Founded1921;102 years ago (1921)
FounderEarl Wise
Headquarters
Berwick, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.
Products Potato chips, tortilla chips, ridgies, nachos, popcorn
Brands
Parent Arca Continental
Website wisesnacks.com

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.

Contents

Wise formerly made Cheez Waffies, but the product has since been discontinued.

In 2012, Wise Foods was acquired by the Mexican company Arca Continental. [1]

History

20th century

Wise Foods was founded in 1921 in Berwick, Pennsylvania by Earl Wise and was initially called the 'Wise Potato Chip Company. [2] Wise owned Wise Delicatessen and began making potato chips as a way to make use of excess potatoes, [2] initially cooking them in his mother's kitchen, [2] and then selling them to customers in brown paper bags. At the time, potato chips were generally kept in glass display cases, or cracker barrels, and scooped into paper bags for customers. The bags developed grease spots and did not keep the chips fresh for very long, eventually leading to the development of waxed paper bags. Wise's chips proved an immediate hit with customers and soon the delicatessen owner became a regional potato chip mogul. He decided on an owl as a company mascot, a creature reputed to be "wise," the stylized eye of which remains the corporate logo. He had his first delivery truck by 1922 and opened his first production plant in 1925. [2]

In 1964, the company passed out of the Wise family, when it was acquired by the Borden Condensed Milk Co. In 1968 Wise Potato Chip company, which then sold popcorn, Cheez Doodles, Bravos Tortilla Chips, and other snack foods changed its name to Wise Foods, Inc. In 1989 Wise acquired Moore's Quality Snack Foods, which also produced salty snacks marketing mostly in Virginia and the Carolinas.

In 1994, Borden agreed to sell Wise and Moore's to the Pittsburgh Food & Beverage Company, and though the purchase was never completed, the fraudulent behavior the prospective buyers used to try to finance the deal precipitated the collapse of the Pittsburgh-based conglomerate.

21st century

In October 2000, the company was bought by New York City-based investment firm of Palladium Equity Partners L.L.C. for $96 million. [3]

Wise made some changes in the 2000s to improve its competitiveness. It closed the Quinlan Pretzel Co. plant in Denver, Pennsylvania, in 2002 and contracted with another area company to make pretzels under the Quinlan name.

In 2004, Palladium began efforts to help Wise cut into Frito-Lay's share in Wise's key markets, including new packaging for all of its products. Much of the money would be spent on the New York City metropolitan area, Wise's largest market. In the summer of 2005 Wise financed a three-year sponsorship deal to become the Official Potato Chip of the New York Mets. [4] It upped the ante to become the Official Potato Chip and Cheez Doodle of the New York Mets by 2015. [5]

In 2012, Wise Foods was acquired by the Mexican company Arca Continental, [1] the second largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin America and number three in the world. [6] Arca, which owns several Mexican snack companies, is seeking to leverage Wise's reputation and market presence to introduce its Mexican snacks where Wise has a presence. [7]

The following year, in 2013, the company moved its headquarters from Parsippany, New Jersey, to Atlanta, Georgia. [8]

In 2015, Jolie Weber, the company's CFO at the time, was named CEO. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

Granny Goose is an American brand of potato chips and other snack foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Dutch Foods</span> Snack food manufacturer based in Minnesota, USA

Old Dutch Foods Inc. is a manufacturer of potato chips and other snack foods in the Midwestern United States, New England and Canada. Their product line includes brands such as Old Dutch Potato Chips, Dutch Crunch, Ripples, Cheese Pleesers and Restaurante Style Tortilla Chips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Scudder</span> American businesswomanan

Laura Clough Scudder was an entrepreneur in Monterey Park, California, who made and sold potato chips and pioneered their packaging in sealed bags to extend freshness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snyder's of Hanover</span> American pretzel company

Snyder's of Hanover is an American bakery and pretzel brand distribution company based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, specializing in German traditional pretzels. Its products are sold throughout the United States, Canada, many European nations, Asia, and in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheez Doodles</span> Cheese flavored snack made in the US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim's Cascade Snacks</span> Subsidiary of Utz Brands

Tim's Cascade Snacks, a subsidiary of Utz Brands, is a manufacturer of potato chips and popcorn. The brands include Tim's Cascade Style Potato Chips, Hawaiian Brand Kettle Chips, and Erin's Gourmet Popcorn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herr's Snacks</span> Brand of snack food

Herr's is an American brand of potato chips and other snack foods produced and marketed by eponymous private American company Herr Foods Inc. based in Nottingham, Pennsylvania. While their products are sold primarily throughout the Eastern United States and Canada, their stronghold is the Mid-Atlantic region. Herr's products are sold in all 50 American states and in over 40 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jays Foods</span> American snack product manufacturer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Chips</span>

Charles Chips is an American maker of snack foods, especially potato chips. It was known for home and office delivery of its products in distinctive tins.

Guys Snack Foods is a snack foods manufacturer and distributor based in Overland Park, Kansas, with its target market being the Midwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shearer's Foods</span> Snack product manufacturer

Shearer's Foods, LLC is a U.S. manufacturer and distributor of snack foods. Founded in 1974 as Shearer's Snacks in Brewster, Ohio, the company now has factories in Ohio, Texas, Arkansas, Oregon, Virginia, Iowa, Minnesota and Ontario, with worldwide distribution.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old London Foods</span> American baked foods brand

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frito-Lay</span> American company producing snack foods

Frito-Lay, Inc. is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips, Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Rold Gold pretzels, and Walkers potato crisps. Each brand generated annual worldwide sales over $1 billion in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utz Brands</span> U.S. food company

Utz Brands, Inc., more commonly known as Utz, is a large American snack food company that is based in Hanover, Pennsylvania. The company produces a wide variety of potato chips, pretzels, and other snacks, with most of its products primarily sold under their family of brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snack</span> Small food portions consumed outside of the main meals of the day

A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.

Wyandot Snacks is a privately held and family owned American contract manufacturer of snacks and other packaged foods, headquartered in Marion, Ohio, a part of the Columbus, Ohio Combined statistical area. primarily as a contract manufacturer for domestic and international branded snack businesses, but also for foodservice customers. The company's main product lines are extruded snacks, corn & tortilla chips, and ready to eat (RTE) popcorn. Wyandot's focuses on the creation of plant-based snack products made from ancient grains such as sorghum and quinoa, pulses such as chickpeas, and flaxseed, among others.

Frito-Lay Canada, Inc.; formerly the Hostess Frito-Lay Company is a Canadian division of the U.S.-based Frito-Lay owned as a subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips, Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Smartfood flavored popcorn and Rold Gold pretzels. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and has four production plants in Cambridge, Ontario; Lévis, Quebec; Kentville, Nova Scotia; and Taber/Lethbridge, Alberta.

References

  1. 1 2 Arca Continental acquires two snack businesses
  2. 1 2 3 4 The Wise Story
  3. ↑ "Arca Continental acquires two snack businesses". www.bakingbusiness.com. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  4. ↑ Wise Foods named Official Potato Chip and Cheez Doodle sponsor for the New York Mets. mlb.com June 21, 2005. Accessed November 22, 2017
  5. ↑ Wise Snacks Partners with Nelson Figueroa to Introduce the Wind Up and Win Promotion
  6. ↑ wisesnacks.com Arca Continentnal
  7. ↑ Arca takes a larger bite out of the snacks market
  8. ↑ "Supplier Spotlight: 'Not The Wise Of Yesteryear'". Shelby Report. 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  9. ↑ Camp, Katy Ruth. "Wise Foods, Inc.'s Jolie Weber". MDJOnline.com. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  10. ↑ "Jolie Weber | Emory University's Goizueta Business School". goizueta.emory.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
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.