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J&J Snack Foods facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: JJSF S&P 600 Component |
| Industry | Snack foods and beverages |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Founder | Gerald B. Shreiber |
| Headquarters | Mount Laurel, New Jersey, U.S. |
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Key people
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| Revenue |  $1.57 billion USD (2024) |
| $79.2 million USD (2017) |
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Number of employees
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4,200 |
J&J Snack Foods Corp. (often called JJSFC) is an American company. It makes, sells, and delivers many popular snack foods and frozen drinks. Their main office is in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
JJSFC has over 175 places where they make, store, and send out products. These are in 44 states across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The company's shares are traded on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol "JJSFC". They sell their products all over the world.
JJSFC makes many different snacks. These include soft pretzels, frozen drinks, and frozen fruit treats. They also make stuffed sandwiches, churros, fruit pies, and cookies. Some of their most famous brands are Superpretzel Soft Pretzels, Icee, Slush Puppie, and Luigi's Real Italian Ice.
The company's CEO, Gerald B. Shreiber, bought J & J Soft Pretzel company in 1971. Since then, the company has grown its sales every year for over 40 years. They grew by creating new snacks and selling their products in more places. JJSFC has three main parts: Food Service, Frozen Beverages, and Retail Supermarket.
Contents
Company History: How J&J Snack Foods Grew
Starting Small: The 1970s
In 1971, Gerald Shreiber bought a bankrupt soft pretzel company called J&J Soft Pretzel. He paid $72,100 for it at an auction. At that time, the company had only eight employees. Its sales were about $400,000 a year.
In 1972, JJSF opened an office in Los Angeles, California. This helped them sell products across the United States. A year later, "Superpretzel Soft Pretzel" became their first official brand. In 1978, JJSF bought two more pretzel companies. They also started selling King-sized pretzels in restaurants and other food places.
Expanding Products: The 1980s
In 1981, JJSF started selling churros, which are Hispanic pastries. They created the brand Tio Pepe's Churros. The next year, JJSF got special rights to use AMF pretzel twisting machines. This made them very good at making soft pretzels quickly. In 1983, they bought Bachman Soft Pretzel Co., adding another factory.
By 1986, JJSF added frozen fruit juice bars (Super Juice) and baked goods to its products. Superpretzel also started being sold in grocery stores for the first time. This was a big step outside of just selling to food service places. When sales went over $25 million, the company started selling shares to the public on NASDAQ.
In the same year, JJSF learned about the frozen drink business. A year later, they bought Icee-USA. This added frozen carbonated drinks to their product line. From 1988 to 1989, JJSF bought five more companies. These included Luigi's Real Italian Ice and MIA Products Co. By 1989, Luigi's was popular in supermarkets, and the company's total sales reached $86 million.
New Snacks and Big Deals: The 1990s
In the early 1990s, JJSF made smaller, bite-sized soft pretzels. They introduced Superpretzel Soft Pretzel Bites in 1990. In 1992, they partnered with Kraft to sell cheese-filled pretzels called Superpretzel Softstix in grocery stores.
The 1990s were a time of many new purchases for JJSF. In 1994, they bought The Funnel Cake Factory. This made them a leader in fried desserts. They also grew their frozen drink business by buying Arctic Blast in 1992 and getting international rights for Icee in 1995.
Their soft pretzel business grew by buying several other pretzel companies. To expand their frozen treats, JJSF bought Mazzone Enterprises, Inc. in 1996 and Mama Tish's International Foods in 1997. They also added to their baked goods by buying Mrs. Goodcookie in 1998 and Camden Creek Bakery in 1999.
In 1998, JJSF made its biggest purchase: National Icee Corp. This greatly helped their frozen drink business. A year later, JJSF partnered with The Minute Maid Company. This allowed JJSF to make and sell frozen juice products under the Minute Maid name. This deal helped them create new frozen juice and lemonade treats.
Growing and Innovating: The 2000s
By the year 2000, JJSF's yearly sales reached $328 million. From 2001 to 2003, they made more types of soft pretzels. These included cheese-filled Pretzel Fillers and Gourmet Twists.
Over the next ten years, JJSF greatly grew its in-store bakery products. This was thanks to buying Uptown Bakeries in 2001 and Country Home Bakers in 2004. In 2007, JJSF bought Hom/Ade Foods Inc. and Radar, Inc. This added Mary B's Biscuits and Daddy Ray's Fig and Fruit Bars to their brands.
In 2006, JJSF bought Icee of Hawaii and Slush Puppie. Slush Puppie brought JJSF into the world of non-carbonated frozen drinks. This made JJSF a top company in the frozen beverage market. They also added more frozen novelty brands like Whole Fruit Sorbet and Dogsters Treats for Dogs in 2007.
Modern Growth: The 2010s and 2020s
By 2010, JJSF's sales were over $600 million. They added to their churro products by buying California Churro in 2010. They also made a deal with Mondelez International to make Oreo Churros. In 2011, the company started making handheld sandwiches and pies.
In 2012, JJSF bought Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzel. This added fancy stuffed soft pretzels to their line. They also bought New York Pretzel in 2013. In 2014, JJSF bought Philly Famous Water Ice, also known as PhillySwirl. This brought unique treats like SwirlStix to their frozen novelty section. By 2014, JJSF reached $800 million in sales and had 25 brands.
In 2020, the company bought the remaining shares of ICEE-USA. In May 2022, J&J Snack Foods agreed to buy Dippin' Dots for $222 million. This deal was completed on June 21, 2022.
J&J Snack Foods Products
Delicious Soft Pretzels
JJSF sells soft pretzels under many brand names. Some of these are Superpretzel, Pretzelfillers, and New York Pretzel. They also sell them under store brand names. All soft pretzels are sold in restaurants, schools, and grocery stores.
Some of JJSF's soft pretzels are approved by the USDA for school lunch programs. This means schools can get money back for serving them. All soft pretzels are made using a special recipe. They come in different sizes and shapes. Some are shaped by special machines, and some are shaped by hand. After they are made, they are quickly frozen.
For restaurants and other food places, JJSF provides ovens and display cases. These help stores prepare and sell the soft pretzels. Some special display cases can warm up frozen pretzels while showing them off.
Frozen Juice Treats and Desserts
JJSF's frozen juice treats and desserts are sold mainly under the Luigi's, Whole Fruit, Philly Swirl, Icee, and Minute Maid names. You can find these products in both food service places and grocery stores.
Minute Maid and Whole Fruit frozen juice bars for schools have 100% apple or pineapple juice. They have no added sugar and lots of vitamin C. These juice bars come in different flavors and are in sealed paper containers.
Most of these products are made from water, sweeteners, and fruit juice. They come in cups, tubes, sticks, and pints. Some products have ice cream, and Whole Fruit has real fruit pieces.
Tasty Churros
JJSF's churros are mostly sold under the Tio Pepe's, California Churros, and Oreo brand names. These are sold in food service places and grocery stores. Churros are Hispanic pastries shaped like sticks. JJSF makes them in different sizes using a special recipe. The churros are deep-fried, frozen, and then packaged.
At restaurants, they are reheated and topped with cinnamon sugar. Churros also come with fruit or cream fillings. Just like with pretzels, JJSF provides equipment to help customers sell churros.
Handheld Snacks
JJSF makes handheld snacks that are wrapped in dough. These are sold under names like Patio, Pillsbury, and Supreme Stuffers. They also make private label versions. These snacks have an outer dough shell, like a burrito or pie crust. Inside, they have different fillings. Handheld products are sold in food service and grocery stores.
Baked Goods
JJSF's baked goods include biscuits, fruit bars, cookies, breads, and muffins. You can find them under brands like Mrs. Goodcookie, Country Home, and Mary B's. They are also sold under private labels. These products are sold either raw (to be baked later) or already baked and ready to eat. They are available in food service and grocery stores.
Cool Frozen Drinks
JJSF sells frozen drinks mainly under the names Icee, Slush Puppie, and Parrot Ice. These are sold in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Frozen drinks are found in food service places and retail stores.
JJSF installs frozen drink machines for its Icee brand at customer locations. They also fix these machines. JJSF provides the ingredients needed to make the frozen drinks. They also help stores sell the drinks with promotions and signs. JJSF also sells Slush Puppie and Parrot Ice drinks through other companies and their own delivery system.
JJSF manages or provides products for about 111,000 drink machines. They also have the right to sell Icee frozen drinks across most of the U.S. and in other countries.