Tom's Snacks Co. is an American snack food brand currently owned by San Antonio Snacks. The former "Tom's Foods Company" had been established by Tom Huston in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, in 1925. The business remained in the food industry until 2005 when it declared bankruptcy, with the brand being acquired by Snyder's-Lance, Inc.

History

Beginning

In 1925, Tom Huston founded "Tom's Roasted Peanuts", and began selling his peanuts for a nickel a bag. Within two years, Tom's peanuts were being sold around the country, generating US$4 million in sales. Due to unpaid notes, though, Huston lost the company to the bank. In 1932, Walter Richards bought Tom's from the bank and took the company public. By the 1950s, sales reached $16 million.

Changes in ownership

In 1966,

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

acquired Tom's for $75 million, and changed the name to "Tom's Foods". In the 1970s, General Mills attempted to launch Tom's chips into national supermarkets and branched off a new vending office snack service. By 1983, Tom's had changed ownership again.

Rowntree Mackintosh Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery was a British company formed by the merger of Rowntree's and John Mackintosh Co. The company was famous for making chocolate brands, such as Kit Kat, Aero and Quality Street. It was purchased by Nestlé in 19 ...

paid $215 million to acquire the company in a mutual agreement. During their ownership, they launched a franchise program for their distributors. Due to the lack of sales, the company was once again sold. TF Acquisition Corporation took over the company in 1988, paying $200 million in a management buyout. Under this new ownership, they opened new chip plants in

and Tennessee expanding their network of independent distributors. Tom's had goals of increasing sales to over $400 million over the next five years. Their goals fell short, and in 1993, Heico Acquisitions took the company over. Over the next few years, sales suffered, falling to $200 million. As a result, Tom's Foods had declared bankruptcy.

Today

In 2005, Lance Inc. won the bid to acquire Tom's Foods for $37.9 million plus certain liabilities and renamed it Tom's Snacks Co. , Tom's products are distributed across the country by

Snyder's-Lance Snyder's-Lance, Inc. is the second largest salty snack maker in the United States. It was formed by the 2010 merger of Lance Inc. and Snyder's of Hanover. The company is a subsidiary of the Campbell Soup Company. History On September 6, 2012, ...

. Tom's Snacks is the first mainstream snack company to feature wrestlers on the packaging of their potato chip bags, including TNA stars

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former collegiate wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Total Nonstop Action ...

Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

, Mr. Anderson,

Velvet Sky Jamie Lynn Szantyr (born June 2, 1981) is an American color commentator and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to NWA. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Velvet Sky. She is a ...

, "The Pope" D'angelo Dinero, and

A.J. Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...

Products

Tom's products include potato chips, corn chips, fries, tortilla chips, and pork skins. Additionally, Bugles are manufactured under the brand name. Tom's used to manufacture cookies and other dessert type snacks, but stopped doing so to focus more on their current line of salty snacks.

References

External links

Official website

Review of Tom’s products.
{{Rowntree's Companies based in North Carolina Snack food manufacturers of the United States Lance Inc. brands 1925 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)