Pillsbury (brand) facts for kids
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Pillsbury Cake Mix (formerly a Smucker Co. product; now made by Hometown Food, a division of Brynwood Partners)
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| Public | |
| Fate | Acquired by General Mills; assets divided |
| Successor | General Mills |
| Founded | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., 1869 |
| Founders | Charles Alfred Pillsbury John S. Pillsbury |
| Headquarters |
Minneapolis, Minnesota
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U.S.
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The Pillsbury Company was a big American company that made cakes, cereals, and other foods. It was one of the largest food producers in the world. In 2001, another large company called General Mills bought Pillsbury.
Because of rules about fair business, General Mills had to sell some parts of Pillsbury. General Mills kept the chilled and frozen Pillsbury foods. The dry baking mixes and frosting went to a company called Smucker. Later, in 2018, another company, Brynwood Partners, bought the dry baking mixes and frosting from Smucker. This sale included other brands like Martha White and Hungry Jack.
Contents
History
Founding and Early Days
C.A. Pillsbury and Company was started in 1869. It was founded by Charles Alfred Pillsbury and his uncle John S. Pillsbury. The company was one of the first in the United States to use new steel rollers for grinding grain.
To move their flour to other places, the Pillsbury family helped build railroads in Minnesota. In 1889, a British company bought Pillsbury and its five mills. These mills were located on the banks of the Mississippi River. The British company also tried to buy and combine with the Washburn Crosby Company, which later became General Mills. However, the owners of Washburn Crosby stopped the takeover.
In 1923, the Pillsbury family bought back their company. It was later officially named "Pillsbury Flour Mills Company" in 1935.
The 1950s
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In 1949, Pillsbury started a national baking contest. This contest became very famous as the Pillsbury Bake-Off. It was shown on TV for many years. The contest also led to popular cookbooks that helped sell Pillsbury products.
In 1950, only seven products had the Pillsbury name. But the company soon started adding many more. In the early 1950s, Pillsbury bought Ballard & Ballard Company. This led to the creation of packaged biscuit dough. This dough became one of Pillsbury's most important and successful products for many years.
Pillsbury also started advertising a lot on television. In 1957, they created a TV commercial song with the words "Nothin' says lovin'/Like somethin' from the oven/And Pillsbury says it best." This song became a well-known part of the company for over 20 years.
Later, Pillsbury bought many other companies and restaurants. These included Burger King, Steak and Ale, Bennigan's, Godfather's Pizza, Häagen-Dazs, and Quik Wok. They also bought popular grocery store food brands like Green Giant.
The 1960s and 1970s
The famous advertising company Leo Burnett created Pillsbury's Doughboy character in 1965.
In the 1960s, Pillsbury introduced Sweet* 10, an artificial sweetener. They also launched Funny Face Drink Mix in 1964. This drink mix came in fun flavors like Goofy Grape and Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry. The Funny Face characters were created in 1963 by Hal Silverman. When a key ingredient in Sweet* 10 was banned, both Sweet* 10 and Funny Face were stopped for a while. They were later brought back with changes.
Another drink mix, Moo Juice, was introduced in 1966. It was a flavored powder that made a milkshake when mixed with milk. Moo Juice was also created by Hal Silverman. However, it did not last long because its milkshakes were often thin.
Hal Silverman also created other kid-friendly foods for Pillsbury. One was Nugget Town, which were chocolate-flavored nuggets. They came in collectible packages that could be folded into a western town. Another product was Gorilla Milk, a protein powder meant to turn milk into an instant breakfast for teenagers.
During this time, Pillsbury also created Space Food Sticks. These were made to be like the foods astronauts ate in space. Space Food Sticks were developed by Robert Muller, who also created important food safety standards.
When NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter went into space in 1962, he took the first solid space food with him. These were small food cubes made by Pillsbury's research team. Pillsbury scientists spent over a year developing these. They also created other space-friendly foods, like cake that didn't crumble and meat that didn't need refrigeration.
Pillsbury bought the Burger King fast food chain in 1967. They also bought Green Giant in 1979.
The 1980s and After
The Pillsbury Company bought Häagen-Dazs ice cream in 1983. In 1985, Pillsbury acquired Diversifoods, which was the biggest Burger King owner in the U.S. Diversifoods also owned Godfather's Pizza. In 1988, Pillsbury sold the Godfather's Pizza chain.
In 1989, a British company called Grand Metropolitan bought Pillsbury. During this time, Pillsbury sold off all its factories and distribution centers. It became a company that mainly marketed its own brands, like Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, and Totino's. Pillsbury also sold all its restaurant brands by the late 1990s.
In 1999, Pillsbury and Nestlé combined their ice cream businesses in the U.S. and Canada. This new company was called Ice Cream Partners. In 2001, Nestlé bought General Mills' share in Ice Cream Partners. This included the right to use the Häagen-Dazs brand for 99 years.
In 2001, Diageo (the company that owned Grand Metropolitan) sold Pillsbury to General Mills. The part of Pillsbury that made baking products was sold to International Multifoods Corporation. This company was later bought by Smucker's.
Notable Achievements
Pillsbury once had the largest grain mill in the world. It was called the Pillsbury A-Mill. It overlooked Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. This building had two of the most powerful waterwheels ever built. Each one produced 1200 horsepower. In 2016, the Pillsbury A-Mill building was turned into apartments for artists.
See also
Images for kids
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The Pillsbury "A" Mill in 2006
