General Host
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General Host Corp. (formerly known as General Baking Company) was a
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
-based food and food-related company. It was also the owner of
Frank's Nursery & Crafts Frank's Nursery & Crafts was an American retailer devoted to the sale of lawn and garden products. It operated a chain of stores, with 170 outlets across 14 states. It specialized in products such as shrubs, trees, accent plants, flowers, and l ...
until the company's bankruptcy in 2004.


History


Early years and Bond Bread

The history of General Host is traced to June 1911, when the General Baking Co. was incorporated in New York as an amalgamation of 21 baking companies from 12 different states, through the merger of the Brunner, Collins and Ontario Baking Companies. The footprint of the new company consisted of no more than two facilities in each city in which it is present. From its inception, the company was publicly traded, beginning with a stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and bond offering. The newly formed company was led by William B. Ward, who had run the
Ward Baking Company The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and Wonder Bread. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former Hostess Brands company. His ...
's factory in the Bronx. Upon formation, it controlled 20 percent of the American bread market. Immediately after formation, the company's first acquisition took place, that of Louisville-based Grocers' Baking Company and its subsidiary, Grocer's Biscuit Company. In 1912, Frank R. Shepherd and William H. Collins, former manager of Collins Baking Company, were the company's vice-president and president, respectively, while Lewis J. Kolb was the
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the company's board. In 1917, the company had plants in 27 cities, including a couple of plants around
Boston, New York Boston is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 8,023 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is an interior town of the county and one of the county's "Southtowns". Boston is south ...
, operating under the names Fox Bakery and Ferguson Baking Company; Deininger and Rochester Baking Companies in Rochester, New York; and Collins and Brunner Baking Companies in Buffalo, New York. The company operated 40 bakeries by 1922 and was the largest wholesale bakery in the New York metropolitan area; including Dexter's Bakery of Springfield, Vermont, which was a strategic purchase to penetrate Central New England. A three way, merger in 1925 among General Host (then General Baking Company),
Ward Baking Company The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and Wonder Bread. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former Hostess Brands company. His ...
and
Continental Baking Company The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and Wonder Bread. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former Hostess Brands company. His ...
enlarged the company further, leading to a 10% stake in the United States national bread business and 157 plants (18 from Ward, 33 from General and 106 from Continental). Coincident with the announcement of this merger, Paul H. Helms was named President of General, and the company was re-incorporated in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
. By 1930 the company owned 50 plants serving cities in 18 states. 1931 found the first addition of Vitamin D into the bread making process, which baking and packaging took place the night before delivery at the time, using a method developed by the Paediatric Research Foundation of Toronto and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Also in 1931, the company recapitalized, eliminating a holding company, General Baking Corporation, and converting all stock to holdings in the core company, General Baking Company, which would be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The production of bread, sold under the trade name of " Bond Bread", accounted for over 90 percent of its sales and production averaged nearly 1.5 million loaves per day. In 1923, Bond Bread was noted as the best-selling brand of bread in the United States. The Bond Bread formula, established circa 1915, was based on the review of 43,040 contest participants who sent the company recipes and samples of their home made bread making. The addition of Vitamin D to the recipe in 1931 was the first change to this formula introduced. The company's brands also included "Mothers Bread", "Bond Rye Bread" and "Butter Krust Bread". One of the company's biggest competitors was
Continental Baking The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and Wonder Bread. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former Hostess Brands company. Hist ...
which sold its main product under the name Wonder Bread.


1950s and 1960s

The company became the owners of
Van de Kamp's Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018. History The company was fo ...
in 1956 after the death of that bakery's founder. The purchase expanded General Baking to the west coast. By the 1960s, the company had increased competition due to other baking conglomerates and supermarkets that began installing on-site bakeries. Around 1966, General acquired two hotels located in Yellowstone Park, operated by the company's wholly owned subsidiary Yellowstone Park Company: Old Faithful Inn and
Lake Hotel The Lake Hotel, also known as Lake Yellowstone Hotel is one of a series of hotels built to accommodate visitors to Yellowstone National Park in the late 19th and early 20th century. Built in 1891, it is the oldest operating hotel in the park. I ...
. By 1967, the company made a profit off of in sales. In 1969, General and several other baking companies were found guilty of and fined in
U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
for price fixing bread in the Philadelphia area, a practice that took place between 1964 and 1968, the indictment having been served 13 March 1968.The citation refers to part 1 of the article; part 2 can be found at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20431592/pt2_bakers_fined/ . The company continued acquiring properties in the 1970s, for instance acquiring a chain of
pretzel A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...
stands,
Hot Sam Hot Sam Pretzels was an American restaurant chain selling soft pretzels. Julius Young opened the first outlet at Livonia Mall in a Detroit suburb in Michigan. In 1971, the owners sold the company to General Host, who then owned the Detroit-based ...
, which was started in Detroit by Russian immigrant Julius Young in 1966. With respect to governance, the company's president as of 1967 was Harris J. Ashton. Two years later, Richard Pistell was president, and Ashton would go on to become
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the company.


1970s Expansion to meatpacking and frozen foods

The company owned several food companies by the 1970s, and the company began venturing into meatpacking and frozen foods, restaurants and hospitality. General also attempted a hostile takeover of the large meatpacking concern Armour and Company in 1969 and was able to acquire a controlling interest in the company. The takeover which was met with lawsuits filed by the
Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
. Despite holding 57% of Armour's stock, General was unable to establish final control of the company and ended up selling its stake to Greyhound in 1970. With the proceeds of the Armour stake sale, General went on to buy the pork processing concern, Cudahy Packing Company. By 1972, General had more than doubled its 1967 sales figure, to . In 1972, General Host and two executives were fined $16,000 for unsanitary conditions at a bakery. The conditions were originally discovered when a mouse was discovered sliced in a loaf of Bond bread. General sold off the majority of its Bond Bread baking division by 1972. In 1979, General's contract to manage two hotels in Yellowstone Park was terminated due to "poor service" and inadequate maintenance of the properties, according to the National Park Service. Also in 1979, General sold its Van de Kamp's bakery division, the largest retail bakery in California, to a group of private investors, returning control back to the West Coast. The group of investors included Jack W. Leeney, president of the division who became the new company's chief executive officer, and executive vice president Odell C. Nordberg, who became the new company's chief operating officer. General retained ownership of Van de Kamp's frozen food divisions. With respect to governance, the company's
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
was Harris J. Ashton in 1977.


1980s purchase of Frank's Nursery and bankruptcy

General purchased Hickory Farms in 1980 from its founder,
Richard Ransom Richard K. Ransom (September 13, 1919 – April 11, 2016) was an American businessman and founder of Hickory Farms. Life Ransom graduated from DeVilbiss High School (Toledo, Ohio) in 1938. He served in World War II, at Okinawa. Starting in 1951 ...
. In 1981, General divested part of its interest in meat processing subsidiary Cudahy Foods due to financial losses in the unit to a newly formed company, Bar-S, started by former executives from Cudahy. General retained the dry sausage and canned ham operations of Cudahy. As part of the divestment, General terminated 1,100 employees, shut four processing centers and thirteen distribution centers. General Host purchased Frank's Nursery & Crafts in 1982 based on research showing higher operating profits for lawn and garden over food products. In the mid-1980s, the company began selling off its food businesses, including its interest in Hickory Farms in 1986. General Host was the owner of the All American Gourmet Co. based in Orange County, California. In 1985 it sold 25% of the company through a public offering. The company sold its remaining 75% interest in the company to Kraft Foods in 1987. The company also sold its Van de Kamp's frozen foods division, the last of its Van de Kamp's operations, to Pillsbury in 1984.


See also

* List of bakeries * List of food companies


References


Notes

{{Reflist, group=nt American companies established in 1911 Food and drink companies established in 1911 Food and drink companies disestablished in 2004 Food production companies based in New York City Bakeries of the United States Frozen food brands