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| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Food |
| Predecessor |
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| Founded | June 19, 1898; 126 years ago (1898-06-19) Chicago, Illinois[1] |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Cookies,crackers,candy,chocolate |
| Brands | |
| Parent |
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| Website | snackworks.com[a] |
Nabisco (/nəˈbɪskoʊ/ ⓘ, abbreviated from the earlier nameNational Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered inEast Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary ofIllinois-basedMondelēz International.[2]
Nabisco's 1,800,000-square-foot (170,000 m2) plant inChicago is the largest bakery in the world, employing more than 1,200 workers and producing around 320 million pounds (150 million kilograms) of snack foods annually.[3] Its products includeChips Ahoy!,Belvita,Oreo cookies,Ritz Crackers,Teddy Grahams,Triscuit crackers,Fig Newtons, andWheat Thins for the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, and other parts of South America.
All Nabisco cookie or cracker products are brandedChristie in Canada, after Canadian bakerWilliam Mellis Christie. Christie's flagship bakery in Toronto was demolished after Mondelēz shut it down in 2013.[4] Nabisco opened corporate offices as the National Biscuit Company in theHome Insurance Building in theChicago Loop in 1898, the world's first skyscraper.[5]
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Pearson & Sons Bakery opened in Massachusetts in 1792, and they made a biscuit calledpilot bread for consumption on long sea voyages. In 1889,William H. Moore acquired Pearson & Sons Bakery, Josiah Bent Bakery, and six other bakeries to start the New York Biscuit Company. Chicago lawyerAdolphus Green (1843–1917)[6][7] started the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company in 1890 after acquiring 40 different bakeries. Then Moore, Green, and John Gottlieb Zeller (1849–1939, founder of Richmond Steam Bakery) all merged in 1898 to form the "National Biscuit Company", and Green was named president. Zeller was president of National Biscuit Company from 1923 to 1931.[8]
Nabisco celebrated its golden anniversary in 1948, andNabisco had become the corporate name by 1971. In 1981, Nabisco merged withStandard Brands to form "Nabisco Brands", which merged withR. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1985 to formRJR Nabisco. Kraft General Foods acquired the Nabisco cold cereals from RJR Nabisco in 1993, and the cereal brands are now owned byPost Holdings. In 1999, Nabisco acquiredFavorite Brands International. In 2000,Philip Morris Companies Inc. acquired Nabisco and merged it withKraft Foods in one of the largest mergers in the food industry. In 2011, Kraft Foods announced that it was splitting into a grocery company and a snack food company. Nabisco became part of the snack-food business, which took the nameMondelēz International.[9]
The first use of the name Nabisco was in a cracker brand produced by National Biscuit Company in 1901.[10] The firm later introducedFig Newtons, Nabisco Wafers, Anola Wafers, Barnum'sAnimal Crackers (1902), Cameos (1910),Lorna Doones (1912),Oreos (1912),[11] and Famous Chocolate Wafers (1924, which would be discontinued in 2023).[12]
In 1924, the National Biscuit Company introduced a snack in a sealed packet called the Peanut Sandwich Packet. They soon added the Sorbetto Sandwich Packet. These allowed salesmen to sell tosoda fountains, road stands,milk bars,lunch rooms, and news stands. Sales increased, and the company started to use the name NAB in 1928. The term Nabs today is used to generically mean any type of snack crackers, most commonly in the southern US.[13]
As of July 16, 2021, parent company Mondelēz International made the decision to close theFair Lawn plant after 63 years forcing the majority of the 600 employees to move on and/or retire, accept jobs with other businesses or transfer within the company.[14]
In August 2021, over 1,000 workers at several bakeries and distribution centers throughout the United States, organized under theBakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union,went on strike over disagreements regarding a new labor contract with Nabisco.[citation needed]
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The National Biscuit Company acquired the Shredded Wheat Company, maker ofTriscuit andShredded Wheatcereal, and Christie, Brown & Company ofToronto in 1928, but all of the Nabisco cookie and cracker products in Canada still use the name Christie. It also acquired F.H. Bennett Company, maker ofMilk-Bone dog biscuits, in 1931.[15]
In 1971, Nabisco bought J. B. Williams Co., a privately owned pharmaceuticals manufacturer.[16] Williams continued to operate as a separatesubsidiary.[17] Nabisco sold Williams toBeecham Group in 1982[18] after nearly a decade of slumping sales.[19]
In 1981, Nabisco merged withStandard Brands, maker ofPlanters Nuts,Baby Ruth andButterfinger candy bars, Royal gelatin, Fleischmann's and Blue Bonnet margarines, amongst others. The company was then renamed Nabisco Brands, Inc.[15] At that time, it also acquired theLife Savers brand from theE.R. Squibb Company, makers ofBubble Yum & Care-free gum. Commercials were revised as a result of the merger by January 1983.
In 1985, Nabisco was bought byR.J. Reynolds, forming "RJR Nabisco". After three years of mixed results, the company became one of the hotspots in the 1980sleveraged buyout mania. The company was in auction with two bidders:F. Ross Johnson, the company's president and CEO, andKohlberg Kravis Roberts, a private equity partnership.
The company was sold to KKR in what was then the biggest leveraged buyout in history, described in the bookBarbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, and a subsequentfilm.
In 1989, RJR Nabisco Inc. sold itsChun King foods division toYeo Hiap Seng Limited and Fullerton Holdings Pte. Ltd for $52 million to reduce its debt from its $24.5 billion buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.[20]
In December 1989, RJR Nabisco sold its Del Monte canned fruits and vegetables business in South America toPolly Peck International PLC.[21] One year later, in 1990 RJR Nabisco sold Curtiss Candy, which owned the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger brands, toNestlé.[22] RJR also sold LU, Belin and other European biscuit brands toGroupe Danone, only reunited in 2007 after Nabisco's present parent,Kraft Foods, bought Danone's biscuit operations for €5.3 billion.[23]
In 1994, RJR sold its breakfast cereal business (primarily the Shredded Wheat franchise) toKraft Foods Inc. and the international licenses toGeneral Mills, which later became part of theCereal Partners Worldwide joint venture with Nestlé.[24]
Also in 1994, RJR acquiredRose Knox's Knox gelatin and integrated theShredded wheat franchise into thePost Foods portfolio.[25] Post continues to sell the product today.
In 1995, Nestlé agreed to buy the Ortega Mexican foods business from Nabisco Inc.[26] That same year, RJR-Nabisco also acquired the North American margarine and table spreads business of Kraft foods. This purchase included Parkay, Touch of Butter and Chiffon.[27]
In 1998, Nabisco Holdings announced its sale of its margarine and egg substitute business toConAgra. In 1997, the brands of Fleishmann's, Blue Bonnet and Parkay had sales of $480 million.[28] It also sold its College Inn broth brand to HJ Heinz[29] and its Venezuelan Del Monte operations to Del Monte Foods.[30]
In 1999, RJR Nabisco's food and tobacco empire fell apart when they sold its international tobacco division to Japan Tobacco for $7.8 billion.[31]
In 2000 Nabisco Holdings together with several investors (as Finalrealm) acquiredUnited Biscuits, As part of the transaction, United Biscuits acquired Nabisco's European businesses[32] and divested Far East (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) business to Nabisco. Nabisco became a leading shareholder in United Biscuits (the position that inherited by Kraft Foods until 2006).
TheAltria Group (formerly Philip Morris)[33] acquired Nabisco (sansBubble Yum which was sold toHershey) in 2000 for about $19.2 billion. Philip Morris then combined Nabisco with Kraft.[34] That acquisition was approved by the Federal Trade Commission subject to the divestiture of products in five areas: three Jell-O and Royal brands types of products (dry-mix gelatin dessert, dry-mix pudding, no-bake desserts), intense mints (such as Altoids), and baking powder. Kraft Foods, at the time also a subsidiary of Altria, merged with Nabisco.[35]
In 2006, Nabisco sold its Milk-Bone pet snacks to Del Monte Foods Co. for $580 million.[36] Altria spun-off Kraft Food along with its Nabisco subsidiary in 2007.[37] In January 2007, Kraft sold Cream of Wheat toB&G Foods.[38]
In 1997, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus became concerned with anad campaign forPlanters Deluxe Mixed Nuts.[39] The initialcommercial featured a man and monkey deserted on an island. They discover a crate of Planters peanuts and rejoice in the peanuts' positive health facts.
Nabisco made a detailed statement describing how their peanuts were healthier than most other snack products, going as far as comparing thenutritional facts of Planters peanuts to those ofpotato chips,Cheddar cheese chips, andpopcorn. Technically, the commercials complied with United StatesFood and Drug Administration regulations, and they were allowed to continue. However, as requested by theNational Advertising Division, Nabisco agreed to make fat content disclosure more conspicuous in future commercials.[40]
The company'sA1 Steak Sauce was the subject of a suit filed against Arnie Kaye inUS District Court on March 13, 1990.[41] Kaye's delicatessen used a homemade sauce called "A2 Sauce," sold in both the International Deli andStew Leonard's supermarkets inWestport, Connecticut.[42] Summary judgement was rendered on March 18, 1991, byJudge Eginton who found in favor of Nabsico and ordered that they were entitled to recoup all profits from the sale of "A.2." sauce as well as attorney's fees.[43]
Nabisco's trademark is a diagonal ellipse with a series of antenna-like lines protruding from the top ("Orb and Cross" orGlobus cruciger). It forms the base of its logo and can be seen imprinted on Oreo cookies, in addition to Nabisco product boxes and literature.[46] The trademark is derived from a medieval Venetian printer's mark that represented "the triumph of the moral and spiritual over the evil and the material".[47]
The current update of the familiar Nabisco trademark was designed by American typographer and graphic designerGerard Huerta, who has created many famous logos for corporate identity and branding as well as the movie and music industries, such asAC/DC's.[48][49]
From 2002 to 2005, Nabisco and Kraft jointly sponsored bothDale Earnhardt, Inc., andRoush Racing. Earnhardt Jr. won four races in a row atDaytona International Speedway with Nabisco sponsorship. Kraft and Nabisco sponsored a part-time Sprint Cup effort in car #81 driven byJason Keller andJohn Andretti and fielded by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Nabisco also sponsoredDale Earnhardt Jr. in the 2010Subway Jalapeño 250 atDaytona International Speedway in July 2010 with their Oreo/Ritz brands andTony Stewart with the Ritz brand in the 2010DRIVE4COPD 300 atDaytona International Speedway in 2010.
(Snack Worlds.com)| International | |
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| National | |
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