Griffin's Foods facts for kids
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Formerly
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| Fate | Acquired by Nabisco in 1962 |
| Founded | 1864 |
| Founder | John Griffin |
| Headquarters |
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New Zealand
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| Products | Cookies, chocolate confection, crackers, cereal bars, snacks |
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Number of employees
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800 (2014) |
| Parent |
List
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The Griffin's Foods Company is a well-known New Zealand food company. It makes many tasty treats like cookies, crackers, chocolate snacks, and cereal bars. The company started in 1864 in Nelson. It was founded by John Griffin, who first made flour and cocoa. Today, Griffin's main office is in Auckland.
Since 1962, Griffin's has been owned by several different companies. These include big names like Nabisco and Danone. As of 2021, it is fully owned by a company called Intersnack.
Contents
The Story of Griffin's
How It All Began
The company was started by John Griffin (1813–1893) from England. He began his business in Nelson, New Zealand, in 1864. At first, he was a miller, making flour and cocoa. John Griffin had arrived in Nelson in 1854 and opened a bakery a year later.
After a big earthquake in 1855 damaged his bakery, John moved to Christchurch. But he returned to Nelson a few years later when things got better.
Growing Bigger
By the 1880s, Griffin's was already making biscuits. In 1886, they started making sweets and candies. By the 1890s, they were producing different kinds of candied fruit peels. Later, in the early 1900s, they also made drinking cocoa. Most of their products were made at their factory in Christchurch.
John Griffin passed away in 1893. His sons, J.H. and G.R. Griffin, took over the family business. In February 1895, another big fire caused a lot of damage. To help the business grow, the sons turned it into a public company in 1895. This meant they could get more money from investors. In 1897, they bought a chocolate factory.
Griffin's grew even more during World War II. They made biscuits for army rations. This helped the biscuit industry in New Zealand become very important.
In 1938, Griffin's opened a new factory in Lower Hutt. They moved all their biscuit making there. The Nelson factory then focused only on making sweets. In 1959, Griffin's bought a rival company called Southern Cross Biscuit Factory.
New Owners and Changes
In 1962, a large company called Nabisco bought Griffin's. Griffin's then bought another sweet maker, Sweetacres, in 1971. They also started making crackers from the British brand Huntley & Palmers. Two years later, Griffin's bought "Eta Foods," which made snacks and potato chips.
Sadly, Nabisco closed the Nelson factory in 1988. This meant 137 people lost their jobs. The old factory building was then taken down. In 1989, Griffin's bought another biscuit company called Hudsons. With this, they got the rights to the famous Cookie Bear character.
When Nabisco was split up, Griffin's was bought by Britannia Foods in 1990. But in December of the same year, Danone bought Griffin's from Britannia Foods.
In 2006, Danone sold Griffin's to a company called Pacific Equity Partners. A year later, Griffin's bought "Nice & Natural Wrapped Snacks." This made Griffin's the top snack food maker in New Zealand.
The Lower Hutt factory closed in 2008, and about 200 jobs were lost. All production moved to the Auckland factories. In 2009, Griffin's moved the making of some of its cream-filled biscuits to Fiji.
In July 2014, Pacific Equity Partners sold Griffin's Foods to a Philippine company called Universal Robina. This deal was worth NZ$700 million. In October 2015, Universal Robina announced they would start selling Griffin's products in Southeast Asia, beginning with the Philippines.
In December 2019, Universal Robina and a German company called Intersnack created a joint company called Unisnack ANZ. This new company included Griffin's and Snack Brands Australia. Intersnack owned 40% of this business. In August 2021, Universal Robina sold its remaining 60% share in Unisnack ANZ to Intersnack. This means Intersnack now fully owns Griffin's.
What Griffin's Makes
The company makes many different kinds of food:
| Brand | Products |
|---|---|
| Griffin's | Cookies, chocolate confection, crackers, muesli bars |
| Eta | Potato chips, nachos, cheese puffs |
| Nice & Natural | Muesli bars, protein bars |
| Huntley & Palmers | Crackers |
| Kettle | Potato chips |
Popular Biscuits
Griffin's makes many popular biscuits, including:
- Cameo Creme
- Chit Chat
- Chocolate Fingers
- Digestive
- Squiggles
- Toffee Pops
- Cookie Bear Hundreds & Thousands
See also
- Huntley & Palmers
- List of food companies
