Dawn Foods (originally called the Dawn Donut Company) is an American wholesale manufacturer and distributor of breads, baked goods, mixes, and other food products. The company is based in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

and operates globally.

History

Prior to 1920, the

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

in Jackson, Michigan was known as Century Bakery; it was purchased by Grover Lutz and Eugene Worden in 1920, who expanded and renamed it the Dawn Donut Company. It produced a donut mix which proved successful and brought the company customers from across the Midwest. The mix was sold in 100lb bags and 200lb barrels, delivered by rail or horse. Dawn was the first industrial bakery mix company in the United States. Dawn was greatly affected by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and later by rationing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and as a result its operations in the 1930s and 1940s were much smaller than during the 1920s. In 1935, Marlin Jones began working at Dawn as a bookkeeper; over the next two decades, he and his wife Evelyne saved money, and in 1955 Jones borrowed the rest needed to purchase Dawn for approximately $600,000. Under the Jones' ownership, the company expanded during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, Dawn was worth over $1M and the company purchased

Baker Perkins Baker Perkins Ltd is a British engineering company for food processing equipment headquartered in Peterborough, England. Its product portfolio offers different technologies and applications for the bread, biscuit, confectionery, snack, and break ...

's automated donut machine division. The same year, Marlin's son Ron began working for Dawn as an accountant, and siblings Miles and Steven joined in 1967 and 1968 respectively. The company patented an automatic donut turnover icing machine in 1966, and formed subsidiary Dawn Equipment Company the same year. Dawn Donut Company was officially renamed Dawn Food Products in 1978. By 1982, when Marlin Jones died, the company's annual revenue was $40m. Dawn purchased Bessire & Company's icing production facilities in 1982, and purchased Denver-based distributor Western Bakers Supply in 1985. Through a partnership with the Torigoe Company, Dawn expanded to Japan in 1979; it later established a manufacturing plant in

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

, United Kingdom in 1989. The company founded its Dawn Foods International division in 1997. In 2002, Dawn acquired Canadian mix manufacturer CSP Foods from

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was a grain handling, agri-food processing and marketing company based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Pool created a network of marketing alliances in North America and internationally which made it the largest agricul ...

for CAD$35M. In 2003, the company purchased

Bunge Limited Bunge Limited is an American agribusiness and food company, incorporated in Bermuda, and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. As well as being an international soybean exporter, it is also involved in food processing, grain trad ...

's North American operations for $76M. Dawn Foods moved its headquarters to a larger location in Jackson – the former

Jacobson's Jacobson's was an American regional department store chain. Based in Jackson, Michigan, the chain operated primarily in Michigan and Florida, but also had stores in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Kansas. Jacobson's focused on apparel, fine jewelry ...

headquarters – in 2004. Dawn saw an annual revenue of $2B in 2006. Ron, Miles, and Steven Jones were inducted into AIB International's Baking Hall of Fame in 2007.

Current operations

The company operates sixteen

distribution center A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to con ...

s in North America. , the CEO is Carrie Jones-Barber; she has worked at Dawn since 1985. Notable clients include

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans ch ...

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, and

WW International WW International, Inc., formerly Weight Watchers International, Inc., is a global company headquartered in the U.S. that offers weight loss and maintenance, fitness, and mindset services such as the Weight Watchers comprehensive diet program.

. Dawn Foods publishes a quarterly magazine, ''Batter Up''.

Locations

Offices

* Evesham, United Kingdom– sales office * Amstelveen, Netherlands - Europe HQ, sales office * Oosterhaut, Netherlands - sales office * Paris , France - sales office * Barcelona , Spain - sales office * Palmela, Portugal - sales office * Poznan, Poland - sales office * Darmstadt, Germany - sales office * Budapest, Hungary - Sales office CEE *

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

– digital innovation team *

Dubai, UAE Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

– sales office *

– headquarters

Manufacturing

, Dawn Foods operates manufacturing facilities in 57 locations. *

Crown Point, Indiana Crown Point is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 33,899 at the 2020 census. The city was incorporated in 1868. On October 31, 1834, Solon Robinson and his family became the first settlers to ...

– frozen products * Evesham, UK– manufacturing *

Louisville, KY Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

– filling and icing *

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

– bakery mix *

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

– bakery mix * Steenbergen, Netherlands– frozen dough products * Groningen, Netherlands - manufacturing * Palmela, Portugal * Darmstadt, Germany * Manage, Belgium * Erquinghem, France * Bielsko Biala, Poland

Acquisitions

* Jabex Sp Zoo Poland (2020) * Bunge North America (2003) * CSP Foods (2002) * Knaubs Cakes (1997) * Millie's Cookies (1989) * Mixco International SA de CV (1997) * Unifine Food & Bake (2011) * Western Bakers Supply (1985)

References

{{Reflist Companies based in Genesee County, Michigan 1920 establishments in Michigan Bakeries of the United States American food and drink organizations