This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.
The history of General Foods can be traced back to the Postum Cereal Company, founded by Charles William Post, inventor of Postum and Grape Nuts, in 1895. Wall Street player E.F. Hutton in time became the chairman, and he initiated a series of acquisitions beginning in 1925: Jell-O, Minute Tapioca, Log Cabin, Hellmann, Calumet Baking Powder, and Birdseye. It was after the Birdseye acquisition in 1929 that the food conglomerate became General Foods.
Among General Foods' many product offerings were Sanka decaffinated coffee and the astronaut's favorite, Tang. General Foods also continued to make acquisitions, including the makers of Kool-Aid in 1953, the Burger Chef restaurant chain in 1968, and Oscar Mayer in 1981.
But late in 1985, General Foods was itself acquired by Philip Morris Cos., which later became Altria Group (NYSE: MO), in the largest non-oil acquisition to date. When Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988, the two food companies were merged. In 2007, Altria spun off Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), which now owns such former General Foods brands as Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Maxwell House coffee. And it was announced in late 2007 that Post Cereals, including Grape Nuts, would be sold to Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH).
So although General Foods may be gone, many of its most popular brands can still be found on supermarket shelves.
Let us know in the comments what you miss about General Foods. And be sure to check out other Companies That Have Vanished.
Entrepreneur's Journal: Key steps for telesales success
The week in preview: Focus returns to earnings: Alcoa, Chevron, Family Dollar
Comfort Zone Investing: Survival of the fittest -- letting some banks fail
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-06-2008 @ 2:09PM
Cindy said...
Dear Sir, I use to buy a lot of cereal from General Mills and I can't find a lot of them anymoreand that is a shame. They were so delicious. Plus I saved the points and I still have them in my closet in a jar there is 7000+. I had brain surgery to stop seizures and now I forget a lot and that is one thing I can't remember. I would have to count them again. Is there anywhere to use them at all? I buy a lot of Kraft foods also. I get email from them. What I mean by when I said I can't find them anymore may be depending on what stores I go to also orhave you stopped making a lot of them?
6-07-2008 @ 11:08AM
M.J.D'Angelo said...
Employed by General Foods from 1964 to 1998. Great years in a great company. How lucky was I.
MJD
6-08-2008 @ 2:24PM
tpny ciullo said...
I worked for GF 28 years. I took early retirement at age 55. I worked in the Maxwell House IFSD.
I have several gifts with my last Name spelled wrong.
6-09-2008 @ 9:23PM
David Holmes said...
It is wonderful many of those General Foods brands are still around. But one might ask why the company is not still around, given it was one of the finest consumer marketing companies back in the sixties and clearly was the leading food company at that time. And why is it that it was ultimately run predominantly by Kraft executives who as a group and company were surely ranked well behind the brands and management of General Foods prior to being acquired. I would submit that it was General Foods management that had become complacent and forgot that you can only continue to maintain market leadership if you grow and innovate. Instead General Foods executives became obsessed with internal politics and power struggles, and took their eyes off continuing to grow with new product development and acquisitions. If you don't move forward in this day and age, you don't just coast, you disappear from the scene. And that is exactly what happened to GF.
6-15-2008 @ 9:53PM
Kapios Kanenas said...
Note: Kraft's current CEO/Chairman was with General Foods.
6-18-2008 @ 9:46AM
Tom Quinn said...
GF was a great company that was sold out by its top management for the quick cash out , the sale to Philip Morris created a multitude of millionaires . Then the top GF management group treated their acquisition by PM with visible disdain of those cigarette peddlers, forgetting who bought who. Eventually PM decided to purchase Kraft and let them deal with GF and now GF is no more . Sad but true , how a great company was sold out .
6-23-2008 @ 12:50PM
Pete said...
And the Brits ruin another great American company!
7-16-2008 @ 12:06AM
june said...
I miss Post Toasties most of all...when we ran out, we were shocked to be unable to find them anywhere...here today, gone tomorrow...no other brand compares to Post Toasties!!!
7-16-2008 @ 8:34PM
John Royer said...
As a kid I enjoyed all of the General Foods print ads that appeard in my mom's "womens' magazines." Oddly, I found their company logo (with the pink and blue dots) was interesting and distinctive, and was always interested to find it on so many products on Mom's shelves. I was sad to hear of its demise, but am glad that it still exists in one product: General Foods International Coffess.