Burry's is a food manufacturer, founded as Burry's Biscuit Corporation by George W. Burry
in 1888 in
.
It became a division of the
Quaker Oats Company in 1962.
The company was one of the manufacturers of Girl Scout cookies from 1936 until 1989.
History
Burry's Biscuit Corporation
Burry Biscuit dates to 1888, when Christina Burry began manufacturing cookies in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
.
The company was organised by George W. Burry into the Burry Biscuit Corporation in 1933, based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. In 1938 the company was called Burry's Biscuit Corporation. That year it moved to
.
It manufactured
Girl Scout Cookies, which it called Plantation cookies. The cookies were packed in a sealed cardboard cylinder, and later the cookies were packed in cans.
The company began manufacturing Girl Scout cookies in 1936.
In 1944, Burry's manufactured Girl Scout Cookies including "Thin Mints", a sugared shortbread cookie called "Scot-Teas", and "Savannahs", an oatmeal sandwich cookie with peanut butter filling.
In 1944, the Burry Biscuit expanded into cleaning and hygiene products.
As of 1946, the company produced pretzels and pioneered a machine-made pretzel to automate the process.
In 1950, Burry's Biscuit Corporation purchased Independent Biscuits Inc. of
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...
for $125,000. Burry's continued to operate Independent Biscuits as a division of Burry's.
On March 29, 1954, the company purchased LeRoy Foods, a Brooklyn-based food company. It also purchased Empire Biscuit around the same time. These two purchases doubled Burry's sales.
Around 1960 Burry Biscuit purchased Cal-Ray Bakeries, a baking corporation based in the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
.
In January 1962
the company became a division of
Quaker Oats Company,
in a takeover valued at around $25,000,000. At the time of purchase, Burry Biscuit had 1,600 employees, profits of around $730,000 on revenue of $22,525,874, and offered over 40 products.
In 1962, Burry's was the largest producer of Girl Scout cookies in the nation. One of their marketing managers, J.R. McAllister Borie, is credited with popularizing the 'Thin Mint Cookie'. In 1980, the food division of Burry's was sold to
Générale Biscuit
Lefèvre Utile, better known worldwide by the initials LU, is a French manufacturer brand of biscuits, emblematic of the city of Nantes. The brand is now part of US confectionery company Mondelēz International since 2012, after splitting of its ...
and its name was changed to Burry-Lu, to reflect
LU, Générale Biscuit's international brand. In 1985, Burry-Lu and the Salerno-Megowen Biscuit Company were merged, forming General Biscuit Brands. The new company produced 13,000 tons of food, and 30% of Girl Scout cookies.
In 1989, ABC Cookie Bakers purchased Burry's Girl Scout cookie division.
In 1991, the rest of the company was purchased by
Sunshine Biscuits.
Burry's Foods
The "Gaucho" peanut butter sandwich cookie produced by Burry was the same cookie as the Savannah, produced for the consumer market ; Gauchos came in a coarse
cardstock box that was covered in a wax-coated paper label. These cookies had a small hole in the oatmeal wafer top that allowed any excess peanut butter filling to escape during production, thereby avoiding the filling being pushed out between the cookie layer sides.
A small retail store offered baked-that-day but broken/defective cookies in bulk for discounts. A shopping-bag-size bag of thin mints cost $1.00.
The Scooter Pie consisted of two large round graham cracker cookies with a thick layer of
marshmallow between and coated with chocolate, similar to the
Moon Pie or
choco pie.
Per ''Candy and Snack Industry'' it was a recognized leader in the cookie and cracker business.
They had a diverse list of products. These included Burry's Tart and Entree Shells, Burry's Gourmet Crackers and Cookies, and Famous Euphrates Wafers and Shells, Burry's Vended Cookies and Snacks The company claimed the "secret" of its process was "Slow baking".
See also
*
List of bakery companies in the US
*
List of baked goods
This is a list of baked goods. Baked goods are foods made from dough or batter and cooked by baking, a method of cooking food that uses prolonged dry heat, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item ...
*
List of food companies
This is a list of food companies, current and past businesses involved in food production or processing.
Africa
* All Joy Foods
* Bakers
* BOS Ice Tea
* Cevital
* Choppies
* Clover
* Colcom Foods
* Distell Group Limited
* Famous Brands
* ...
References
Further reading
Elizabeth fire claims a storied building - NJ.com''Prominent Families of New Jersey''
External links
*
*
Late 70's Television Commercial
Video via YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
*{{cite web , url=https://www.amazon.com/Heavens-Betsy-Burrys-Cookies-wagon/dp/B0727SVMVM , title="Heavens to Betsy Burry's Cookies are Good!" Ad: girl with wagon full , website=Amazon , year=1963 , type=Poster
Brand name snack foods
Companies established in 1888
Snack food manufacturers of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in New Jersey
Food and drink companies based in Illinois
Food and drink companies established in 1888
American brands
Bakeries of the United States
Brand name breads
Brand name desserts
Bagel companies