Formerly |
|
---|---|
Type | Public |
Industry | Food |
Predecessor | Bloch & Guggenheimer |
Founded | 1996 |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Areas served |
|
Key people |
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Revenue | US$1,968 million (2020) |
US$132 million (2020) | |
Total assets | US$3,768 million (2020) |
Total equity | US$831,877 (2020) |
Number of employees | 3,207 (2021) |
Website | bgfoods |
Footnotes /references [1] |
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.
B&G has been publicly traded since 2007 and its primary growth strategy is to acquire "orphaned" brands, those which no longer fit with their parent company's primary business. [2] The company made 20 acquisitions between 1997 and 2017 and as of 2018 [update] held 51 brands [3] mostly frozen and shelf-stable food.
The "B&G" name began in 1889 when two immigrants, Joseph Bloch and Julius Guggenheimer, started a pickle company, Bloch & Guggenheimer, Inc., in Manhattan. [4] In its early days, B&G built a large pickle plant in Long Island City, Queens which the company operated until the 1970s when it moved production to Maryland. [5] B&G produced pickles, relish, and other condiments under the B&G brand and by the 1980s they had become a significant retail and foodservice supplier in the New York City area. [6]
In the 1980s, Dutch conglomerate Artal NV bought several North American food companies including B&G and M. Polaner, Inc. Leonard S. Polaner, who had led his family's business prior to its acquisition, was appointed president overseeing both companies. Polaner hired former Johnson & Johnson executive David Wenner to manage B&G. [6] However, starting in March 1993, Artal began to sell off its food products starting with Polaner selling it to American Home Products for US$67.5 million. [7]
In June 1993 an investment group led by Robert Bass and Dallas leveraged buyout specialists Haas, Wheat & Partners founded Specialty Foods Corp. to buy Artal's eight remaining North American food companies for US$1.1 billion. These included B&G, Mother's Cookies, cheese producer Stella Foods of Green Bay, and Oakland-based Pacific Coast Baking Co., [8] owner of San Francisco French Bread Co. and Gai's Seattle French Baking Co. [9] Both Polaner and Wenner took executive positions with Specialty. However, two years later, after suffering a loss of US$165 million in 1995, the heavily leveraged Specialty decided to focus on its bread and cheese businesses and began selling other holdings. [10] [6]
A group of New York investors, Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., [11] with assistance from Polaner and Wenner formed B Companies Holdings Corp. in 1996. The purpose of the company was to buy Bloch & Guggenheimer and snack foods producer Burns & Ricker, Inc. from Specialty. [3] In 1997, following these successful acquisitions, the company took the name of its more notable subsidiary and was renamed B&G Foods Holdings Corp. [1] Polaner became B&G's chairman and Wenner its president and CEO. [6]
B&G immediately began acquiring additional food companies starting in June 1997 with several brands from Nabisco. These included Regina wine vinegar, Brer Rabbit molasses, Wright’s liquid smoke, and Vermont Maid syrups. [12] In August it bought Louisiana-based Trappey’s Fine Foods, maker of Trappey's Hot Sauce and Red Devil hot sauces and pickled peppers, from McIlhenny Company. [6]
Following a year of positive financial performance from the brands it had already acquired, B&G bought maple syrup and salad dressing producer Maple Grove Farms of Vermont and its natural foods brand Up Country Naturals in July 1998. In early 1999, B&G chairman Polaner was reunited with his family business when B&G acquired the Polaner All Fruit line of jams, jellies and preserves for US$30 million. American Home had placed Polaner under a subsidiary, International Home Foods, majority control of which had been acquired by a leveraged buyout firm in 1996. [6]
In a transaction that significantly increased the size of the company, B&G bought six brands from Pillsbury Company for US$192 million in 1999. These included B&M Baked Beans, Ac'cent and Sa-son Ac'cent flavor enhancers, Las Palmas Mexican food, Joan of Arc canned beans, and Underwood meat spreads. Pillsbury at the time said it was selling these brands so it could focus on its larger brands including Green Giant. [5] While it continued to integrate these companies, B&G began a new line of business collaborating with chef Emeril Lagasse to develop the "Emeril's Original" brand of products. [6]
After lackluster sales growth of just 4.6% in 2000 and significant long-term debt, B&G decided to sell off its Burns & Ricker business. Burns & Ricker had been one of 5 subsidiaries to see a decrease in sales that year and was sold to Nonnie's Food Company, Inc. in January 2001. [6] By 2003, B&G was ready to start buying again and acquired the Ortega brand of Mexican chiles and sauces from Nestlé. [13]
In October 2004, B&G Foods Holdings Corp. became B&G Foods, Inc. having merged its then-subsidiary B&G Foods into the parent company. [1] In 2007, the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with ticker symbol NYSE : BGS. [2]
The company acquired Grandma's Molasses from Mott’s Company in 2006 [13] and Cream of Wheat from Kraft Foods in 2007. [5] In 2010 it acquired the brands of Violet Packing including Sclafani and Don Pepino tomato products. [14] This was followed a year later by its 2011 acquisition of the Culver Specialty Brands division from Unilever for US$325 million. The Culver purchase included the Mrs. Dash (rebranded "Dash" in 2020), [1] Molly McButter, Sugar Twin sugar substitute, and Baker's Joy baking spray with flour brands all of which Unilever had acquired when it bought The Alberto Culver Company. [15] The purchase also included the Static Guard, and Kleen Guard brands of furniture polish, B&G's first non-food brands. [16]
B&G acquired snack food brands Old London Foods, with its sub-brands Devonsheer and JJ Flats, and New York Style along with a manufacturing facility in Yadkinville, North Carolina from Chipita America in 2012 for US$62.5 million. [17] In 2013 it acquired Rickland Orchards for US$57 million, [18] the TrueNorth brand of nut snacks from DeMet's Candy Company, and Robert's American Gourmet Food (better known as "Pirate Brands") and its Pirate's Booty, Smart Puffs, and Original Tings snack brands for US$195 million. [19]
In 2014, B&G bought Westbury, New York-based Specialty Brands of America from private equity firm American Capital for US$155 million. Specialty Brands' largest holding was the dry soup, pasta, and rice producer Bear Creek Country Kitchens. The purchase also included the Spring Tree, Cary's, and MacDonald's brands of maple and pancake syrup, New York Flatbreads, and Canoleo margarine. [20] In its largest acquisition at the time, B&G acquired Green Giant and its associated brands Le Sueur and Le Sieur from General Mills in 2015. [5] By the following year, B&G had expanded Green Giant's offerings with 25 new frozen vegetable products. [3] In July 2016, B&G announced it would be moving production of pizza crust producer Mama Mary's, acquired in 2015, [21] from its Spartanburg, South Carolina facilities to consolidate it into B&G's Yadkinville operations. [22]
The spice and seasonings business of ACH Food Companies, a division of Associated British Foods, was acquired in November 2016 for US$365 million. This brought B&G the Spice Islands, Tone's, and Durkee brands of spices and a licensing agreement to produce Weber brand sauces and seasonings. It also included a manufacturing facility in Ankeny, Iowa. [23] Also in 2016, B&G bought pasta and sauce maker Victoria Fine Foods for US$70 million. [24] Back to Nature Foods, along with its Snackwell's brand, was acquired for US$162.5 million in 2017 [25] from Mondelez International. [26]
In October 2018, B&G sold Pirate Brands to Hershey for US$420 million in an all-cash deal. [27] [28] [29]
In May 2019, B&G acquired baking ingredients producer Clabber Girl Corporation for US$80 million from Hulman & Company, owners of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [30] Clabber Girl produces baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, gelatins, and puddings under the Clabber Girl, Rumford, Davis, Hearth Club, and Royal brands. [31] The next year, B&G bought the Crisco brand of cooking oils and shortening along with its manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio from The J.M. Smucker Company for approximately US$550 million. [32] [33] Also in 2020, B&G bought Wellesley, Massachusetts-based frozen vegan foods producer Farmwise Farms with a goal of complementing its existing Green Giant frozen vegetable products. [34] [35]
Kenneth C. "Casey" Keller was appointed B&G's president and CEO in June 2021 replacing interim president and CEO David L. Wenner who remained a board member. Keller had previously held leadership roles at various major foods brands including JDE Peet's, Peet's Coffee, Wrigley Company, Alberto-Culver, and Heinz. [36] Wenner, who had led B&G from 1993 to 2014, took on the interim role following the 2020 resignation of Kenneth Romanzi. [37]
In an effort to reduce costs and improve productivity, the company announced in August 2021 it would sell its Portland, Maine manufacturing facility. The plant had produced B&M products for over 100 years, Underwood products for over 50 years, and other B&G brands following B&M's acquisition. The facility's 86 employees were to be laid off and manufacturing operations moved to third-party and other B&G locations. The sale was expected to close by the end of 2021 with B&G's operational move completed by the first quarter of 2022. Following the sale, the facility would become the home of The Roux Institute at Northeastern University. [38]
B&G's portfolio includes a wide variety of brands: [39]
B&G also produces products under brands licensed from other companies including Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Crock-Pot, [1] Einstein Bros. Bagels, [42] Emeril's Original, [13] Skinnygirl, Twix, [43] and Weber. [23]
B&G's Cream of Wheat was one of a number of brands subject to public pressure to change its branding due to perceived racist origins during the 2020 protests around racism. From its inception, the brand's packaging and marketing featured an African American chef character named "Rastus", a pejorative term for black men. B&G announced an "immediate review" of Cream of Wheat branding in June 2020 [44] and in September said it would be removing the character from all Cream of Wheat packaging. [45]
The H. J. Heinz Company was an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six continents, and markets these products in more than 200 countries and territories. The company claims to have 150 number-one or number-two brands worldwide. Heinz ranked first in ketchup in the US with a market share in excess of 50%; the Ore-Ida label held 46% of the frozen potato sector in 2003.
Nabisco is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first manufactured in the United States in 1893 by wheat millers in Grand Forks, North Dakota and debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major business units: consumer foods, pet foods, and coffee. Its flagship brand, Smucker's, produces fruit preserves, peanut butter, syrups, frozen crustless sandwiches, and ice cream toppings.
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.
Heinz 57 is a synecdoche of the historical advertising slogan "57 Varieties" by the H. J. Heinz Company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was developed from the marketing campaign that told consumers about the numerous products available from the Heinz company.
Post Consumer Brands is an American consumer packaged goods food manufacturer headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota.
Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England.
Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company founded in 1894. Over the years, Beatrice owned many well-known brands such as Tropicana, Dannon, Krispy Kreme, Jolly Rancher, Orville Redenbacher's, Swiss Miss, Peter Pan, Martha White, Playtex, La Choy, Samsonite and Avis Car Rental.
J&J Snack Foods Corporation (JJSFC) is an American manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of name brand snack foods and frozen beverages. Headquartered in Pennsauken, NJ, JJSF uses over 175 facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, and distributing located in 44 states, Mexico, and Canada. The company is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as “JJSFC”, and serves both national and international markets.
Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018.
Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, Lyons, Sharwood's, Loyd Grossman sauces, Oxo, Bisto, Batchelors and Plantastic. Premier Foods also produce cakes under the Cadbury's name, using the brand under licence. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 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.
Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in Columbus, Ohio, and focused primarily on pasta and pasta sauces, bakery products, snacks, processed cheese, jams and jellies, and ice cream. It was best known for its Borden Ice Cream, Meadow Gold milk, Creamette pasta, and Borden Condensed Milk brands. Its consumer products and industrial segment marketed wallpaper, adhesives, plastics and resins. By 1993, sales of food products accounted for 67 percent of its revenue. It was also known for its Elmer's and Krazy Glue brands.
Clabber Girl is an American brand of baking powder, baking soda, and corn starch popular in the United States. Originally owned and manufactured by Hulman & Company, which also owned and operated the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and INDYCAR, it was sold in 2019 to B&G Foods. The brand also owns the Rumford, Davis, Hearth Club and Royal brands of retail baking powder, baking soda and corn starch, and the Royal brand of dessert mixes. The Clabber Girl name brand comes from the word "clabber", a type of sour milk. In the early 1800s, people mixed clabber with pearl ash, soda, cream of tartar, and a few other ingredients to make what we know today as baking powder. The first baking powder brand by Hulman and company was the "Milk Brand". In 1899, it was changed to the "Clabber Brand". In 1923, the company changed the name to "Clabber Girl".
Campbell Soup Company, doing business as Campbell's, is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however through mergers and acquisitions, it has grown to become one of the largest processed food companies in the United States with a wide variety of products under its flagship Campbell's brand as well as other brands including Pepperidge Farm, Snyder's of Hanover, V8, and Swanson. With its namesake brand Campbell's produces soups and other canned foods, baked goods, beverages, and snacks. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey.
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.
Mondelez International, Inc., styled as Mondelēz International, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in approximately 160 countries. It ranked No. 108 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz Company co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is the third-largest food and beverage company in North America and the fifth-largest in the world with over $26.0 billion in annual sales as of 2021.
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