Nabisco facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Nabisco

Formerly	National Biscuit Company (1898–1971) Nabisco (1971–1985) RJR Nabisco (1985–1999)
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Food
Predecessor	New York Biscuit Company Kennedy Biscuit Company Pearson & Sons Bakery Josiah Bent Bakery American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company Richmond Steam Bakery
Founded	June 19, 1898; 127 years ago (1898-06-19) Chicago, Illinois
Founders	William H. Moore Adolphus Green John G. Zeller
Headquarters	East Hanover Township, New Jersey , United States
Products	Cookies, crackers, candy, chocolate
Brands	Belvita Better Cheddars Cheese Nips Chips Ahoy! Fig Newtons In A Biskit Lorna Doone Nilla Oreo Premium Rice Thins Ritz Crackers Shredded Wheat Teddy Grahams Triscuit Wheat Thins Zu Zu Singer
Parent	Kraft Foods Inc. (2000–2012) Mondelēz International (2012–present)

Nabisco is a well-known American company that makes cookies and snacks. Its main office is in East Hanover, New Jersey. Nabisco is part of a bigger company called Mondelēz International, which is based in Illinois.

Nabisco has a huge bakery in Chicago, which is the largest bakery in the world! It's about 1,800,000 square feet and employs over 1,200 people. This bakery makes about 320 million pounds of snacks every year. Some of their famous products include Chips Ahoy!, Belvita, Oreo cookies, Ritz Crackers, Teddy Grahams, Triscuit crackers, Fig Newtons, and Wheat Thins. These snacks are sold in the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, and other parts of South America.

In Canada, all Nabisco cookie and cracker products are sold under the name Christie. This name comes from a Canadian baker named William Mellis Christie. Nabisco first opened its corporate offices in Chicago in 1898, in the world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building.

The Story of Nabisco

L-R: William Moore, Adolphus W. Green, and John G. Zeller, who started the National Biscuit Company in 1898

The story of Nabisco began a long time ago. In 1792, a company called Pearson & Sons Bakery opened in Massachusetts. They made a type of hard biscuit called "pilot bread," which was good for long sea trips.

Later, in 1889, a person named William H. Moore bought Pearson & Sons Bakery and several other bakeries to create the New York Biscuit Company. Around the same time, a lawyer from Chicago named Adolphus Green started the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company in 1890 by buying 40 different bakeries.

Then, in 1898, Moore, Green, and John Gottlieb Zeller (who started the Richmond Steam Bakery) decided to join their companies together. They formed a new company called the "National Biscuit Company." Adolphus Green became its first president.

National Biscuit Company and Quincy Biscuit wagon advertising "Uneeda Biscuit" in Boston, Massachusetts in 1899

The name "Nabisco" was first used in 1901 for a cracker brand made by the National Biscuit Company. The company later introduced many popular snacks, including Fig Newtons, Barnum's Animal Crackers (in 1902), Lorna Doones (in 1912), and Oreos (also in 1912).

In 1924, the National Biscuit Company started selling snacks in sealed packets, like the Peanut Sandwich Packet. This made it easier for them to sell snacks in more places, like at soda fountains and news stands. Sales grew, and the company began using the short name "NAB" in 1928. Today, "Nabs" is sometimes used to mean any type of snack crackers, especially in the southern United States.

The company celebrated its 50th birthday in 1948. By 1971, "Nabisco" officially became the company's name. Over the years, Nabisco has been part of many big company changes. In 1981, Nabisco joined with Standard Brands to become "Nabisco Brands." Then, in 1985, it merged with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to form "RJR Nabisco."

In 2000, another large company called Philip Morris Companies Inc. bought Nabisco and combined it with Kraft Foods. Later, in 2011, Kraft Foods decided to split into two separate companies. Nabisco became part of the snack food business, which is now known as Mondelēz International.

In 2021, Mondelēz International decided to close the Fair Lawn plant after 63 years. This meant that most of the 600 employees had to find new jobs or retire. Also in August 2021, over 1,000 workers at several bakeries went on strike because of disagreements about a new work contract with Nabisco.

Company Mergers and Acquisitions

Important Acquisitions

The National Biscuit Company Building, Houston, Texas. Nabisco used this building until the late 1940s or early 50s.

Over the years, Nabisco has bought many other companies and brands. In 1928, the National Biscuit Company acquired the Shredded Wheat Company, which made Triscuit and Shredded Wheat cereal. They also bought Christie, Brown & Company in Toronto, which is why Nabisco products in Canada are still called Christie. In 1931, they acquired F.H. Bennett Company, which made Milk-Bone dog biscuits.

In 1981, Nabisco merged with Standard Brands. This brought many new products under the Nabisco name, including Planters Nuts, Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars, and Life Savers candies.

Joining with R. J. Reynolds

In 1985, Nabisco was bought by R.J. Reynolds, a tobacco company, and they formed "RJR Nabisco." This was a very big deal at the time, becoming one of the largest company buyouts in history.

Later Changes

After the R.J. Reynolds merger, RJR Nabisco sold off some of its businesses. For example, in 1990, they sold Curtiss Candy, which owned the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger brands, to Nestlé.

In 1994, RJR sold its breakfast cereal business, including Shredded Wheat, to Kraft Foods Inc..

In 2000, the Altria Group (which used to be called Philip Morris) bought Nabisco for about $19.2 billion. Philip Morris then combined Nabisco with Kraft Foods. This was a huge merger in the food industry.

In 2006, Nabisco sold its Milk-Bone pet snacks to Del Monte Foods Co. In 2007, Kraft Foods separated from Altria, and Nabisco went with Kraft. Later, Kraft Foods itself split, and Nabisco became part of Mondelēz International.

Legal Issues

Sometimes, companies have legal disagreements. In 1997, there was a concern about an advertisement for Planters Deluxe Mixed Nuts. The ad showed a man and a monkey on an island who were happy to find Planters peanuts and talked about how healthy they were.

Nabisco explained that their peanuts were healthier than many other snacks like potato chips. Even though the commercials followed the rules, Nabisco agreed to make it clearer in future ads that peanuts still have fat content.

Nabisco also had a legal case about its A1 Steak Sauce. In 1990, a delicatessen was selling a homemade sauce called "A2 Sauce." Nabisco took them to court because the name was too similar to their famous A1 Sauce. The court decided in favor of Nabisco.

Brands and Products

The Oreo, Nabisco's best-selling cookie

Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies

Lorna Doone cookies

Nutter Butter cookies

Premium saltines

Original Wheat Thins

Nabisco's Logo

(Left): newspaper ad for the Uneeda biscuits from 1919; the Nabisco "antenna" trademark can be seen behind the product; (right): the current Nabisco logo, designed by designer Gerard Huerta

Nabisco's special logo is a diagonal oval shape with lines sticking out from the top, like an antenna. This symbol is called the "Orb and Cross." You can see it pressed onto Oreo cookies, as well as on Nabisco product boxes. This symbol comes from an old design used by a printer in Venice during the Middle Ages. It was meant to show "the victory of good and spiritual things over evil and material things."

The current design of the Nabisco logo was created by an American typographer and graphic designer named Gerard Huerta. He has designed many famous logos for companies, movies, and music bands, like AC/DC's logo.

Sports Sponsorships

From 2002 to 2005, Nabisco and Kraft together sponsored race car teams like Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and Roush Racing. Famous race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. won four races in a row at Daytona International Speedway with Nabisco as a sponsor.

Nabisco also sponsored Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a race in 2010 with their Oreo and Ritz brands. They also sponsored Tony Stewart with the Ritz brand in another race in 2010.

See also

In Spanish: Nabisco para niños