Beatrice Foods
Encyclopedia
Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company. In 1987, its smaller international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis
, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of its domestic (U.S.) brands and assets were acquired by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts (KKR), with the bulk of the holdings sold off. By the early 1990s, the remaining operations were ultimately acquired by ConAgra Foods
.
. At the time, they purchased butter, milk and eggs from local farmers and graded them for resale. They promptly began separating the butter themselves at their plant, making their own butter on site and packaging and distributing it under their own label. They devised special protective packages and distributed them to grocery stores and restaurants in their own wagons and through appointed jobbers. To overcome the shortage of cream, the partners established skimming stations to which farmers delivered their milk to have the cream, used to make butter, separated from the milk. This led to the introduction of their unique credit program of providing farmers with hand cream separators so that they could separate the milk on the farm and retain the skim milk for animal feeding. This enabled farmers to pay for the separators from the proceeds of their sales of cream. The program worked so well that the company sold more than 50,000 separators in Nebraska from 1895 to 1905. On March 1, 1905, the company was incorporated as the Beatrice Creamery Company of Iowa, with capital of $3,000,000. By the turn of the century, they were shipping dairy products across the United States
, and in 1910, they ran nine creameries and three ice cream plants across the Great Plains
.
The company moved to Chicago
in 1913, at the time the center of the American food processing industry. By the 1930s, it was a major dairy company, producing some 30 million USgals (113,562.4 m³) of milk
and 10 million USgals (37,854.1 m³) of ice cream
annually. In 1939, Beatrice Creamery Company purchased Blue Valley Creamery Company
, the other Chicago-based dairy centralizer. This acquisition added at least 11 creameries from New York to South Dakota. Beatrice's Meadow Gold brand was a household name in much of America by the beginning of World War II
. In 1946, it changed its name to Beatrice Foods and doubled its sales between 1945 and 1955 as the post-war baby boom
created vastly greater demand for milk products.
From the late 1950s until the early 1970s, the company expanded into Canada
and purchased a number of other food firms, leveraging its distribution network to profit from a more diverse array of food and consumer products. It came to be the owner of brands like Avis Rent A Car, Playtex
, Shedd's
, Tropicana
, John Sexton & Co, Good & Plenty
and many others. Annual sales in 1984 were roughly $12 billion. It was during this year that the corporation ended advertisements for its products with the catchphrase "We're Beatrice"; the red and white "Beatrice" logo would simultaneously appear in the bottom right hand corner. It was determined that the campaign alienated consumers, calling attention to the fact that it was a far-reaching multinational corporation, and the campaign was pulled off the air by autumn.
Through the 1980s, Beatrice was a co-defendant alongside W. R. Grace and Company
in a lawsuit alleging that the Riley Tannery, a division of Beatrice Foods, had dumped toxic waste which contaminated an underground aquifer that supplied drinking water to East Woburn, Massachusetts
. The case became the subject of the popular book and film A Civil Action
. A Federal judge ruled that Beatrice was not responsible for the contamination, although according to the book and film, the EPA later found both companies responsible.
In 1986, Beatrice became the target of leveraged buyout
specialists Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
. They ultimately took over the firm for $8.7 billion — at the time the largest leveraged buyout in history — and over the next four years sold it off, division by division. Its smaller international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis
, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International in 1987, becoming the largest business in America run by an African American
and the first company to reach a billion dollars in sales, with a black man at its head. In 1990, the last of Beatrice's assets were sold to ConAgra Foods. Most of Beatrice's brand names still exist, but under various other owners, as trademarks and product lines were sold separately to the highest bidder.
In 2007, Almus, Inc. formed Beatrice Companies, Inc., as the new food manufacturing and distribution business, adhering to the original business model of high quality food products that are both regional and national in scope. Beatrice Companies, Inc. at present operates in the domestic (U.S.) market.
Beatrice's Canadian
subsidiary, Beatrice Foods Canada Ltd.
, was founded in 1969 and became legally separate from its parent firm in 1978. It was therefore unaffected by the buyout of its American counterpart.
Canada
. The Canadian unit of Beatrice Foods was founded in 1969, and was separated from Beatrice Foods in 1978.
Consequently, Beatrice's Canadian unit was not affected by the buyout of its founders and remained in business as one of Canada's largest food processing concerns.
In 1997 Beatrice Foods Canada was acquired by Parmalat. At first, Parmalat decided to drop the Beatrice name from the company's products, but was reinstated in late 2005 during which the Italian
parent company was being investigated.
Reginald Lewis
Reginald F. Lewis , was an American businessman, who was one of the most successful business leaders during the 1980s. He was the richest African-American man in the 1980s. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he grew up in a middle class neighborhood. He won a football scholarship to Virginia State...
, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of its domestic (U.S.) brands and assets were acquired by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts (KKR), with the bulk of the holdings sold off. By the early 1990s, the remaining operations were ultimately acquired by ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods, Inc. is an American packaged foods company. ConAgra's products are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments. Its headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska...
.
History
The Beatrice Creamery Company was founded in 1891 by Mike W. Peng, by leasing the factory of a bankrupt firm of the same name located in Beatrice, NebraskaBeatrice, Nebraska
Beatrice is a city in and the county seat of Gage County, Nebraska.Beatrice is located south of Lincoln on the Big Blue River. It is surrounded by agricultural country. The population was 12,459 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. At the time, they purchased butter, milk and eggs from local farmers and graded them for resale. They promptly began separating the butter themselves at their plant, making their own butter on site and packaging and distributing it under their own label. They devised special protective packages and distributed them to grocery stores and restaurants in their own wagons and through appointed jobbers. To overcome the shortage of cream, the partners established skimming stations to which farmers delivered their milk to have the cream, used to make butter, separated from the milk. This led to the introduction of their unique credit program of providing farmers with hand cream separators so that they could separate the milk on the farm and retain the skim milk for animal feeding. This enabled farmers to pay for the separators from the proceeds of their sales of cream. The program worked so well that the company sold more than 50,000 separators in Nebraska from 1895 to 1905. On March 1, 1905, the company was incorporated as the Beatrice Creamery Company of Iowa, with capital of $3,000,000. By the turn of the century, they were shipping dairy products across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and in 1910, they ran nine creameries and three ice cream plants across the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
.
The company moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1913, at the time the center of the American food processing industry. By the 1930s, it was a major dairy company, producing some 30 million USgals (113,562.4 m³) of milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
and 10 million USgals (37,854.1 m³) of ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
annually. In 1939, Beatrice Creamery Company purchased Blue Valley Creamery Company
Blue Valley Creamery Company
Blue Valley Creamery Company was a company that operated many creameries and milk plants across the United States.-History:Before 1900, limitations in transportation and storage limited the geographic scope of creameries. To that time, creameries were primarily local, gathering cream from nearby...
, the other Chicago-based dairy centralizer. This acquisition added at least 11 creameries from New York to South Dakota. Beatrice's Meadow Gold brand was a household name in much of America by the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1946, it changed its name to Beatrice Foods and doubled its sales between 1945 and 1955 as the post-war baby boom
Post-World War II baby boom
The end of World War II brought a baby boom to many countries, especially Western ones. There is some disagreement as to the precise beginning and ending dates of the post-war baby boom, but it is most often agreed to begin in the years immediately after the war, ending more than a decade later;...
created vastly greater demand for milk products.
From the late 1950s until the early 1970s, the company expanded into Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and purchased a number of other food firms, leveraging its distribution network to profit from a more diverse array of food and consumer products. It came to be the owner of brands like Avis Rent A Car, Playtex
Playtex
Playtex and PlayTex are a brand and trademark. It used to be associated with bras and women's undergarments. Currently there are two separate companies with the Playtex name....
, Shedd's
Country Crock
Shedd's Country Crock is a food brand owned by food giant Unilever. It originally sold spreads, such as margarine, but later extended to side dishes, particularly mashed potatoes and pasta, made by Hormel under licence....
, Tropicana
Tropicana Products
Tropicana Products is an American based company, and was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida, U.S.A. Since 1998, it has been owned by PepsiCo, Inc. Tropicana's headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois.-Anthony T. Rossi:...
, John Sexton & Co, Good & Plenty
Good & Plenty
Good & Plenty is an American brand of licorice candy. The candy is a narrow cylinder of sweet black licorice coated in a hard candy shell to form a capsule shape...
and many others. Annual sales in 1984 were roughly $12 billion. It was during this year that the corporation ended advertisements for its products with the catchphrase "We're Beatrice"; the red and white "Beatrice" logo would simultaneously appear in the bottom right hand corner. It was determined that the campaign alienated consumers, calling attention to the fact that it was a far-reaching multinational corporation, and the campaign was pulled off the air by autumn.
Through the 1980s, Beatrice was a co-defendant alongside W. R. Grace and Company
W. R. Grace and Company
W. R. Grace and Company is a Columbia, Maryland, United States based chemical conglomerate.The company has two main divisions, Davison Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. The Davison unit makes chemical catalysts, refining catalysts, and silica-based products that let other companies make...
in a lawsuit alleging that the Riley Tannery, a division of Beatrice Foods, had dumped toxic waste which contaminated an underground aquifer that supplied drinking water to East Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...
. The case became the subject of the popular book and film A Civil Action
A Civil Action
A Civil Action is a 1998 American drama film starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall, based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr...
. A Federal judge ruled that Beatrice was not responsible for the contamination, although according to the book and film, the EPA later found both companies responsible.
In 1986, Beatrice became the target of leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
specialists Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
. They ultimately took over the firm for $8.7 billion — at the time the largest leveraged buyout in history — and over the next four years sold it off, division by division. Its smaller international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis
Reginald Lewis
Reginald F. Lewis , was an American businessman, who was one of the most successful business leaders during the 1980s. He was the richest African-American man in the 1980s. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he grew up in a middle class neighborhood. He won a football scholarship to Virginia State...
, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International in 1987, becoming the largest business in America run by an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and the first company to reach a billion dollars in sales, with a black man at its head. In 1990, the last of Beatrice's assets were sold to ConAgra Foods. Most of Beatrice's brand names still exist, but under various other owners, as trademarks and product lines were sold separately to the highest bidder.
In 2007, Almus, Inc. formed Beatrice Companies, Inc., as the new food manufacturing and distribution business, adhering to the original business model of high quality food products that are both regional and national in scope. Beatrice Companies, Inc. at present operates in the domestic (U.S.) market.
Beatrice's Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
subsidiary, Beatrice Foods Canada Ltd.
Beatrice Foods Canada Ltd.
Beatrice Foods Canada Ltd. is a dairy unit of Parmalat Canada based in Toronto. The Canadian unit of Beatrice Foods was founded in 1969 and separated from its American parent firm, Beatrice Foods in 1978....
, was founded in 1969 and became legally separate from its parent firm in 1978. It was therefore unaffected by the buyout of its American counterpart.
Beatrice Foods Canada Limited
Beatrice Foods Canada Ltd. is a Toronto, Ontario based dairy unit of ParmalatParmalat
Parmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Having become the leading global company in the production of ultra high temperature milk, the company collapsed in 2003 with a €14 billion hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy...
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The Canadian unit of Beatrice Foods was founded in 1969, and was separated from Beatrice Foods in 1978.
Consequently, Beatrice's Canadian unit was not affected by the buyout of its founders and remained in business as one of Canada's largest food processing concerns.
In 1997 Beatrice Foods Canada was acquired by Parmalat. At first, Parmalat decided to drop the Beatrice name from the company's products, but was reinstated in late 2005 during which the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
parent company was being investigated.