COMPANY·HISTORIES
NAIC 311412

Frozen Food Specialty Manufacturing

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

27companies1866–1990founding years27still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedNestlé S.A.
1866
FoundedLDCFoundedThe Pillsbury Company
1869
FoundedH.J. Heinz CompanyFoundedHazlewood Foods plc
1900
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedKellogg Company
1906
FoundedAjinomoto Co., Inc.
1909
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedFlowers Industries, Inc.FoundedKewpie Kabushiki Kaisha
1919
FoundedWinn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
1928
FoundedUnilever
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedNichirei Corporation
1942
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
FoundedTyson Foods, Inc.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedNorthern Foods plc
1949
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedRich Products Corporation
1965
FoundedRuiz Food Products, Inc.
1967
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
FoundedGolden Krust Caribbean Bakery, Inc.FoundedKraft Foods Inc.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Gardenburger, Inc. →
Active
Gardenburger, Inc., headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is the largest producer of meat-substitute burger patties in the…
Nestlé S.A. →
Active · founded 1866 · Switzerland
Nestlé S.A.
LDC →
Active · founded 1869 · France
LDC is now Europe's leading poultry processor after edging out fellow French rival Doux Père Dodu in 2004.
The Pillsbury Company →
Active · founded 1869
The Pillsbury Company is one of the oldest and most recognized firms in American food retailing.
Ranks Hovis McDougall Limited →
Active · founded 1899 · United Kingdom
Ranks Hovis McDougall Limited (RHM) is the food division of Tomkins PLC, which acquired the company (then known as…
H.J. Heinz Company →
Active · founded 1900
Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J.
Hazlewood Foods plc →
Active · founded 1900 · United Kingdom
Hazlewood Foods plc is one of Europe's leading producers of convenience foods, including frozen foods and other…
Dr. August Oetker KG →
Active · founded 1902 · Germany
Dr.
Kellogg Company →
Active · founded 1906
Will Keith Kellogg once estimated that 42 cereal companies were launched in the breakfast-food boom during the early…
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. →
Active · founded 1909 · Japan
Ajinomoto Co., Inc., the world's first and still-largest producer of monosodium glutamate (MSG), is one of Japan's…
Koninklijke Wessanen nv →
Active · founded 1913 · The Netherlands
Early 20th Century:Company exits from the cheese, seed, and grain trades and begins focusing on processed products.
Flowers Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1919
Flowers Industries, Inc.
Kewpie Kabushiki Kaisha →
Active · founded 1919 · Japan
Kewpie Kabushiki Kaisha (QP Corporation is its English equivalent name), one of Japan's leading food products…
Campbell Soup Company →
Active · founded 1922
Campbell Soup Company is the number one maker of soups in the world, holds the top position in that category in Europe,…
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. →
Active · founded 1928
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
Unilever →
Active · founded 1929 · The Netherlands
If the adage 'two heads are better than one' applies to business, then certainly Unilever is a prime example.
Nichirei Corporation →
Active · founded 1942 · Japan
Nichirei Corporation has developed a two-pronged leadership strategy in two core markets: processed foods, on the one…
Leprino Foods Company →
Active · founded 1946
Leprino Foods Company, owned by the Leprino family, is the largest producer of mozzarella cheese in the United States.
Tyson Foods, Inc. →
Active · founded 1947
Founded in 1935, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, Inc.
Northern Foods plc →
Active · founded 1949 · United Kingdom
Northern Foods plc is one of the United Kingdom's leading manufacturers of high-quality fresh foods, supplying the…
Skyline Chili, Inc. →
Active · founded 1949
Skyline Chili, Inc.
Rich Products Corporation →
Active · founded 1965
Rich Products Corporation entered the 21st century as one of the leading frozen food manufacturers in the United States.
Ruiz Food Products, Inc. →
Active · founded 1967
Privately owned, Ruiz Food Products, Inc.
Imagine Foods, Inc. →
Active · founded 1982
Imagine Foods, Inc.
Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery, Inc. →
Active · founded 1989
Based in the borough of the Bronx in New York City, Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery, Inc., operates a chain of…
Kraft Foods Inc. →
Active · founded 1989
Kraft Foods Inc.
Luigino's, Inc. →
Active · founded 1990
Luigino's, Inc., a privately held company based in Duluth, Minnesota, is one of North America's leading manufacturers…
Build It Today

Starting a frozen food specialty manufacturing company now

Each week we rebuild one of these stories for today's tools and capital.