View source for General Foods

{{Short description|Defunct food company, absorbed into Kraft Foods Inc}}
{{Distinguish|General Mills}}

{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=January 2024}}
{{Content|date=January 2024}}
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{{Infobox company
| name = General Foods Corporation
| former_name = 
| logo = 
| logo_size = 120
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| traded_as = [[NYSE]]: GF 

[[DJIA]] component (until 1985)

[[S&P 500]] component (1957-1985)
| industry = [[Food industry|Food]]
| fate = Merged into [[Kraft Foods Inc.]]
| predecessor = [[Post Consumer Brands|Postum Cereal Company]] (1895–1929)
| successor = [[Mondelez International]]<br>[[Kraft Heinz]]<br>[[JDE Peet's]]<br>[[Post Consumer Brands]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1929}}
| founder = 
| defunct = {{end date and age|1990}}
| location = [[Rye Brook, New York]], U.S.
| key_people = 
| products = [[Breakfast cereal]]s, [[cereal coffee]]
| num_employees = 
| parent = [[Altria|Philip Morris]] (1985–1990)
| subsid = 
| brands = {{collapsible list|
* [[Burger Chef]]
* [[Calumet Baking Powder Company|Calumet]]
* [[Dream Whip]]
* [[Gravy Train (dog food)|Gravy Train]]
* [[Maxwell House]]
* [[Oscar Mayer]]
* [[Rax Restaurants]]
* [[Shake 'n Bake]]
* [[Stove Top stuffing|Stove Top]]
}}
| homepage = 
}}
'''General Foods Corporation''' was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the [[United States]] by [[C. W. Post|Charles William (C. W.) Post]] as the [[Postum Cereal Company]] in 1895.

The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate acquisitions, by [[Marjorie Merriweather Post]] after she inherited the established cereal business from her father, C. W. Post. In November 1985, General Foods was acquired by Philip Morris Companies (now [[Altria]]) for $5.6 billion, the largest non-oil acquisition at the time. In December 1988, Philip Morris acquired [[Kraft Foods Inc.]], and, in 1990, combined the two food companies as Kraft General Foods. The "General Foods" name was dropped in 1995 with the corporate name being reverted to Kraft Foods; a line of caffeinated hot beverage mixes continued to carry the [[Maxwell House International|General Foods International]] name until 2010.

== History ==
=== Background ===
{{main|Post Consumer Brands}}
[[File:C.W. Post LCCN2014696048 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|150px|C. W. Post, founder of the Post Cereal Company, predecessor of General Foods]]
General Foods background can be traced to the Post Cereal Company, founded by C. W. Post in 1895 in [[Battle Creek, Michigan]].  Post was a patient at the [[Battle Creek Sanitarium]] (run by [[John Harvey Kellogg]], brother of [[Kellogg's|Kellogg Company]] founder [[Will Keith Kellogg]]). Post was inspired by the diet there to start his food company (and become a rival to the Kellogg brothers, who sold their own breakfast cereals). He invested $78 in his initial equipment and supplies and set up manufacturing in a barn on what was known as the 'Old Beardsley Farm'.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=http://www.lib.msu.edu/uri-res/N2L?urn:x-msulib::vvl:DB37595|title=Post Cereal Company|date=February 17, 1948|people=Dunbar, Willis|type=audio|language=en|publisher=WKZO|location=Kalamazoo, Michigan|series=Western Michigan at Work|access-date=December 17, 2019|oclc=1026388957}}</ref>  His first product was [[Postum]], a "cereal beverage" alternative to coffee made from wheat and molasses. The first cereal, [[Grape-Nuts]], was developed in 1897 followed by Elijah's Manna in 1904, which was renamed Post Toasties in 1908.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrbreakfast.com/cereal_detail.asp?id=779|title=Elijah's Manna Cereal |publisher=MrBreakfast.com }}</ref>

In 1907 ''[[Collier's]] Weekly'' published an article questioning the claim made in advertisements for Grape Nuts that it could cure [[appendicitis]]. C. W. Post responded with advertisements questioning the mental capacity of the article's author, and ''Collier's Weekly'' sued for libel. The case was heard in 1910, and Post was fined $50,000. The decision was overturned on appeal, but advertisements for Postum products stopped making such claims.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pendergrast |first=Mark| year=2010 |title=Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World |location=New York |publisher=Basic Books |pages= 101–102|isbn=978-0-465-01836-9}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

=== General Foods ===
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2024}}
C.W. Post died in 1914, and his daughter Marjorie Merriweather Post took over the company. The Postum Cereals company acquired others such as [[Jell-O]] (gelatin dessert) in 1925,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1926-02-02 |title=POSTUM CEREAL BUYS IGLEHEART FLOUR CO.; Pays $11,500,000 in Stock and Will Retain Old Management -- Another Deal Pending |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/02/archives/postum-cereal-buys-igleheart-flour-co-pays-11500000-in-stock-and.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> [[Walter Baker & Company]] (chocolate) and [[Hellmann's and Best Foods|Hellmann's]] (sauces) in 1927,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1927-05-27 |title=POSTUM SEEKING BAKER CO.; Cereal Firm Reported to Desire Control of Chocolate Concern |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/05/27/archives/postum-seeking-baker-co-cereal-firm-reported-to-desire-control-of.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 29, 1927 |title=Business: Postum Buys |url=https://time.com/archive/6656288/business-postum-buys/ |access-date=August 24, 2025 |website=Time}}</ref> [[Maxwell House]] (coffee) in 1928,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-07-28 |title=Approves Cheek-Neal Sale to Postum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/07/28/archives/approves-cheekneal-sale-to-postum.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> and other food brands.

By far the most important acquisition in 1929 was of the frozen-food company owned by [[Clarence Birdseye]],<ref>Details of Birdseye's remarkable career may be found in ''American National Biography'', Vol. 2, pp. 808-9.</ref> called General Seafood Corporation. Birdseye (December 9, 1886 - October 7, 1956) was one of the most important entrepreneurs in the history of the food industry. Born in New York City, he became interested in the frozen preservation of food during the course of working as a fur trader in [[Labrador]] between 1912 and 1916. By 1923, he had developed a commercially viable process for [[Flash freezing|quick-freezing]] foods using a belt mechanism, which he patented. In 1924, with backing from three investors, he formed the "General Seafoods Company" in [[Gloucester, Massachusetts]] to produce frozen [[haddock]] fillets packed in plain cardboard boxes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clarence Birdseye |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/clarence-birdseye/197546 |access-date=August 24, 2025 |website=Entrepreneur.com}}</ref>

{{multiple image
|align = right
|direction = horizontal
|total_width = 350
|image1 =Generalfoods cookbook.jpg
|image2 = Dreamwhip ad 1960s.jpg
|footer = (Left): General Foods ''Cookbook'' launched in 1932; (right): magazine ad for the [[Dream Whip]] topping in the 1960s
}}
The founder's daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, was the first to become excited about the prospects for the frozen foods business. In 1926, she had put into port at Gloucester on her yacht, ''[[Sea Cloud]]'', and was served a luncheon meal which, she learned to her amazement, had been frozen six months before. Despite her enthusiasm, it took Post three years to convince Postum's management to acquire the company. Postum paid $10.75 million for a 51% interest and its partner, [[Goldman Sachs]], paid $12.5 million for the other 49%.<ref>
Following the sale, Birdseye remained in the frozen foods business. In 1932, he established "Birds Eye Frozen Foods", which by later in the decade was selling almost 100 different frozen products. It is not immediately clear how General Foods came to acquire the product name, but Birds Eye frozen vegetables were a major component of its business until the division was sold to [[Dean Foods]] in 1993.</ref> Following this acquisition, Postum, Inc changed its name to General Foods Corporation. Goldman sold its share back to General Foods in 1932, apparently at a slight loss.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1959-06-28 |title=1929 GAVE START TO FROZEN FOODS; Big Modern Industry Stems From Clarence Birdseye's Work in Labrador |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/06/28/archives/1929-gave-start-to-frozen-foods-big-modern-industry-stems-from.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hoover |first=Gary |date=2020-10-23 |title=Forgotten Giant: General Foods |url=https://americanbusinesshistory.org/forgotten-giant-general-foods/ |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=Business History - The American Business History Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

Shortly after the acquisition, General Foods began test-marketing an expanded line of [[frozen foods]], but the company quickly realized that a packaging process alone would not be sufficient to market frozen products in stores. To be sold, the packages had to be kept frozen while on display, so Birdseye engineers began development of a freezer cabinet designed specifically to hold frozen foods. The cabinet, which first appeared in 1934, required a great deal of space and electricity, which were not readily available in most grocery stores of the period. For those stores that could accommodate them, the payback was immediate. Housewives quickly realized that keeping packages of frozen food in the icebox could mean fresher meals and fewer trips to the market.<ref>The space and power requirements for the burgeoning frozen-food section was one factor which led to the rapid development of larger self-service [[supermarket]]s beginning in the late 1930s.</ref><ref name=":0" />

The company published a cookbook in 1932 called the ''General Foods Cook Book'' dedicated "To the American homemaker". Five editions were published between 1932 and 1937. The book includes photographs (among which is "General Foods offers over twenty famous products for your well-stocked pantry shelf") and a subject index.<ref>General Foods Consumer Service Department ''General Foods Cook Book''. New York: General Foods Corporation</ref>

General Foods acquired the Perkins Product Company, the makers of [[Kool-Aid]], in 1953, [[Burger Chef]] in 1968, [[Oscar Mayer]] in 1981, [[Entenmann's]] in 1982, Oroweat in 1984, and the Freihofer baking company in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |title=TO BUY PERKINS PRODUCTS; General Foods Plans to Acquire Company Making Kool-Aid |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/02/17/archives/to-buy-perkins-products-general-foods-plans-to-acquire-company.html |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=17 February 1953}}</ref><ref name="wsj-1967oct16">{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/doc/133179393.html |title=General Foods Says It Plans To Buy Burger Chef Systems |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=October 16, 1967 |page=17 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220063354/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/doc/133179393.html |url-status=dead |id={{ProQuest|133179393}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=GENERAL FOODS PLANS TO BUY OSCAR MAYER |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/05/business/general-foods-plans-to-buy-oscar-mayer.html |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=5 February 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Salpukas |first1=Agis |title=GENERAL FOOD GETS ENTENMANN |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/07/business/general-food-gets-entenmann.html |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=7 October 1982}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Continental sells baking unit |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/09/Continental-sells-baking-unit/2383450334800/ |access-date=24 July 2024 |work=UPI |date=9 April 1984 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Shogren |first1=Elizabeth |title=The 74-year-old Charles Freihofer Baking Co. said Wednesday it... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/08/19/The-74-year-old-Charles-Freihofer-Baking-Co-said-Wednesday-it/4421556344000/ |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=UPI |date=19 August 1987 |language=en}}</ref> The company then sold Burger Chef to [[Imasco]], owner of [[Hardee's]], in 1981.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hardee's to Buy Burger Chef |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/10/business/hardee-s-to-buy-burger-chef.html |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=10 December 1981}}</ref>

General Foods was acquired by Philip Morris Companies (now Altria) in 1985 for $5.8 billion.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1985-09-28 |title=PHILIP MORRIS TO BUY GENERAL FOODS FOR $5.8 BILLION |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/28/business/philip-morris-to-buy-general-foods-for-5.8-billion.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> In 1989, Phillip Morris merged General Foods with Kraft Foods Inc., which it had acquired in 1987, to form the Kraft General Foods division.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1995-01-05 |title=Philip Morris to Consolidate 2 Food Divisions : Restructuring: Kraft and General Foods businesses will join under the Kraft Foods banner. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-05-fi-16669-story.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brewington |first=David |date=January 29, 2025 |title=Kraft Heinz Exhibits a Concerning Trend of Divestitures and Contraction |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kraft-heinz-exhibits-concerning-trend-215617765.html |access-date=August 24, 2025 |website=Yahoo Finance}}</ref> The cereal brands of [[Nabisco]] were acquired in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 4, 1993 |title=Kraft complete purchase of Nabisco's cold cereal businesses |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/01/04/Kraft-complete-purchase-of-Nabiscos-cold-cereal-businesses/7327726123600/ |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref> In 1995 Kraft General Foods was reorganized, and the Kraft Foods name was restored.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1995-01-05 |title=Blending Kraft and General Foods |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/05/business/blending-kraft-and-general-foods.html |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> On November 15, 2007, Kraft announced it would spin off Post Cereals and merge that business with [[Ralcorp|Ralcorp Holdings]].<ref name="Merger">{{cite web |url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=129070&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1078406 |title=Kraft Foods to Merge Its Post Cereals Business With Ralcorp |access-date=2007-11-15 |publisher=Kraft Foods }}</ref> That merger was completed August 4, 2008,<ref name="Ralcorp">
{{cite web
 |url        = http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=102251&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1182967&highlight=
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081218155335/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=102251&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1182967&highlight=
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-date = 2008-12-18
 |title      = Ralcorp Announces Completion of Post Cereals Merger
 |access-date = 2008-09-08
 |publisher  = Ralcorp Holdings, Inc
}}
</ref> at which time the official name of the company became Post Foods, LLC. In 2012, the original Kraft Foods Inc. was split into grocery and snack food companies with the grocery unit retaining the Kraft Foods name and the snack brands becoming Mondelez International.<ref>{{Cite web |last=WATSON |first=Elaine |date=2012-10-01 |title=Vernon leads charge at ‘New Kraft’ as old Kraft officially splits into two |url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2012/10/02/Kraft-officially-splits-into-two/ |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=FoodNavigator-USA.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rushe |first=Dominic |date=2012-03-21 |title=Kraft spins off snacks business into new Mondelez International company |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/mar/21/kraft-new-company-mondelez-international |access-date=2025-08-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The company was then subsequently merged with [[Heinz Foods]] in 2015 to form [[Kraft Heinz]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Trefis |date=March 30, 2015 |title=Analysis Of the Kraft-Heinz Merger |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/03/30/analysis-of-the-kraft-heinz-merger/ |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = 
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| total_width       = 200
| image1            = General Foods - 1962.svg
| caption1          = 
| image2            = 
| caption2          = 
| footer            = '''(Left)''': Company's longest-lasting logo, designed by Walter Dorwin Teague Associates, used from 1962 to 1984; '''(right)''': final logo, designed by [[Saul Bass]], used from 1984 until the merger to Kraft Foods Inc. in 1990
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Companies}}
* [[800 Westchester Avenue]] (former headquarters)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}

{{General Foods}}
{{The Kraft Heinz Company}}

[[Category:Food manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Breakfast cereal companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Battle Creek, Michigan]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Michigan]]
[[Category:Companies based in Westchester County, New York]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in New York (state)]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1929]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies established in 1929]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies disestablished in 1995]]
[[Category:1929 establishments in Michigan]]
[[Category:1995 disestablishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Former Altria subsidiaries]]
[[Category:General Foods]]
[[Category:Kraft Foods brands]]
[[Category:Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average]]
[[Category: Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]