Wyandot Snacks

Last updated
Wyandot Inc.
Type Private
Industry Food processing
Founded Marion, Ohio, United States (1936)
FoundersW. Hoover Brown and Ava King Brown [1]
Headquarters Marion, Ohio, United States
Key people
Dewey Armstrong
(President and Chief Executive Officer)
ProductsSee Products section
Number of employees
333
Website

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. [2] 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.

Contents

History

Wyandot Popcorn Company was founded in Wyandot County, Ohio during the Great Depression by Hoover and Ava (King) Brown. Mrs. Brown was the daughter of George W. King, one of the founders of the Marion Power Shovel Company. In 1936, as a way to diversify their family's farming income from grains and livestock, the Browns planted their first 100 acres of popcorn and entered the business of growing and selling raw popcorn. Popcorn became a popular treat in America at the time given its affordability.

In 1948 a subsidiary, Popped-Right Corn Company, was established initially to sell ready-to-eat (RTE) popcorn to movie theatres. Popped-Right, in conjunction with local Marion candy company Shirk's, created one of the first formulas of caramel popcorn for broad commercialization.

In 1964 both Wyandot Popcorn and Popped-Right consolidated their office operations into a new facility in Marion, Ohio while maintaining the raw popcorn processing on the farm in Wyandot County. Also in the 1960s Popped-Right, under the direction of son Warren Brown, diversified into corn-based snacks to supply regional potato chip marketers who were seeking to compete against a growing Frito Lay. The raw popcorn business, led by son George Brown, continued to grow as well, to the point where Wyandot was selling 50 million pounds of popcorn and selling it to over 75 countries, representing nearly a quarter of the global trade in raw popcorn. [3] By the 1980s Wyandot was the second largest processor of popcorn in the United States. [4] Both businesses were consolidated in 1981 under Wyandot, Inc.

In 1981 Wyandot purchased a second snack manufacturing location in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

In 1989 Wyandot sold its raw popcorn operation to Vogel Popcorn, who subsequently sold the business to ConAgra Foods. [5]

With an increased focus on contract manufacturing versus private label business and business with regional potato chip companies, Wyandot sold the Jeffersonville plant in 2004. [6]

In the first decade of the 2000s Wyandot manufactured Cracker Jack for Frito Lay, [7] as well as Pringles Select chips for Pringles when that brand was owned by P&G.

In March 2018 Wyandot elected three snack industry veterans to its board of directors: James Kairos, formerly of Bare Snacks, Sundia and Odwalla; Blake Thompson, former SVP and operations/logistic leader for Snyder's-Lance and Frito Lay, and Steve Van Tassel, former CEO of Weetabix, North America and former President of Post Cereals. [8] In 2021 Jolie Weber, CEO of Lenny & Larry's and former CEO of Wise Foods, joined the company's Board. [9]

Wyandot was certified as a B Corporation in January 2020. [10] Wyandot is one of the largest food & beverage contract manufacturers in the world to achieve this certification.

Products and manufacturing capabilities

Products made from single and twin screw extrusion capabilities include curls and puffs made singly or in combinations of corn, rice, pulses (like chickpeas, beans, peas), made from fruits and other vegetables, fortified with vitamins and minerals, and made with ancient grains.

RTE popcorn is made both air and kettle popped.

Corn based snacks include corn chips, tortilla chips, and tortilla strips.

Wyandot once utilized a former P&G craft chip line to manufacture specialty chips made from chickpeas and combinations of various vegetable components.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cracker Jack</span> American snack food brand

Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn, and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat The More You Want", were registered in 1896. Some food historians consider it the first junk food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popcorn</span> Variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up on heating

Popcorn is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion.

The Marion Popcorn Festival is held every year in downtown Marion, Ohio, United States. The festival was established in 1981 and is held annually during the first weekend after Labor Day in September. Marion was once an epicenter of popcorn manufacturing, made by such companies as Wyandot Snacks and Orville Redenbacher's. Wyandot Snacks was once the largest exporter of popcorn in the United States, and Cracker Jack was manufactured in Marion for almost a decade. In 1982, the second year of the festival, Wyandot Snacks presented a 40 foot long bag of popcorn, which they submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for consideration as the largest bag of popcorn in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tortilla chip</span> Snack food made from corn tortillas

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheetos</span> Brand of corn puff snack food

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.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritos</span> American brand of corn chips and dipping sauces

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn chip</span> Snack food made from cornmeal

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

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

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Archibald Clark West was a marketing executive credited with the development of Doritos, a brand of seasoned tortilla chips. The successful snack food was marketed as an alternative to the more traditional potato chips. Doritos are now Frito-Lay's second best-selling item, bested only by Lay's Potato Chips. An estimated five billion dollars in Doritos are sold every year worldwide.

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. ↑ Wyandot Snacks History 'http://www.wyandotsnacks.com/Our-History' Accessed June 9, 2017
  2. ↑ Day, Beth. Maximizing health, innovating style. bakingbusiness.com June 7, 2016 Retrieved June 10, 2017
  3. ↑ Rotuno-Johnson, Michelle. The Marion Popcorn Festival. 2014
  4. ↑ Smith, Andrew F. Food and Drink in American History: A "Full Course" Encyclopedia. 2013, page 685.
  5. ↑ Smith, Andrew F. Food and Drink in American History: A "Full Course" Encyclopedia. 2013, page 685.
  6. ↑ Jeffersonville's Wyandot Inc. to get new owner. Indiana Economic Digest Friday, December 23, 2005. Retrieved June 9, 2017
  7. ↑ Wyandot Popcorn Museum. Ohio Magazine November 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2017
  8. ↑ Wyandot Snacks Appoints Three New Directors To Board: Leader in Better for You Snacks Targets Accelerated Growth in Food Industry's Fastest Growing Segment Retrieved May 23, 2018
  9. ↑ Jolie Weber Joins Wyandot Snacks Board Of Directors Retrieved May 31, 2011
  10. ↑ "Not found" . Retrieved March 7, 2023.[ dead link ]
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