Reily Foods Company facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food & Beverages |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Headquarters | New Orleans, LA, USA |
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Key people
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Wm. B. Reily IV, President & CEO |
| Products | See brands listing. |
Reily Foods Company is a big company that sells food and drinks. It's the main part of Wm. B. Reily & Company Inc. The company first started by selling coffee and tea. Over time, it grew to include other products. These include things like condiments, salad dressings, seasonings, and baking items.
You can find Luzianne Iced Tea all over the country. Other products are mostly sold in the Southern United States. The main office for Reily Foods Company is in New Orleans, Louisiana. It's located in the city's business area.
Contents
How Reily Foods Started
William B. Reily began working in grocery stores in the late 1870s. He started as a clerk in a small town store in Bastrop, LA. After eight years, Reily decided to open his own grocery store. Just two years later, he moved to Monroe, LA. There, he started a wholesale grocery business called Southern Grocery Company, Inc.
While running his business, he noticed how popular his coffee products were. He realized he could make a lot of money by roasting coffee himself. After 14 years of running his successful business in Monroe, Reily moved to New Orleans. This is where he started what would become the Reily Foods Company.
Early Days in New Orleans
On December 11, 1902, William B. Reily and his partners opened their coffee business in New Orleans. They roasted, ground, and sold coffee. At that time, most of the coffee beans coming into the United States passed through New Orleans. This meant Reily could pick the very best beans.
The next year, the company added more products for their customers. Both their coffee and tea were sold under the Luzianne brand name. This name was a local way of saying "Louisiana." In 1906, the company changed its name to Reily Taylor Company. Then, in 1919, it became Wm. B. Reily & Co., Inc.
The Rise of Iced Tea
In 1932, Reily and his sons saw that iced tea was becoming very popular. This was especially true in the South. So, they created a special blend of tea just for iced tea. Luzianne Iced Tea has since become a very important product for the company. It is now the second best-selling iced tea in the United States.
Growing the Company with New Brands
For the first 50 years, Wm. B. Reily & Co. and Reily Foods Company only made Luzianne coffee and tea. They started adding different products in 1965. This happened when they bought the JFG Coffee Company. JFG mostly brought coffee brands and factories. But Reily also got a small regional mayonnaise brand from them.
Three years later, Reily bought CDM coffee from Blue Plate Foods. CDM was a very popular coffee brand in New Orleans. It had been around since before the 1900s.
Adding Famous Food Brands
In 1974, Reily bought Blue Plate Foods from the Hunt-Wesson Company. This added Blue Plate Mayonnaise to their list of brands. Blue Plate was one of the first mayonnaises made for stores. It is still one of the most popular mayonnaise brands in the South.
Over the next 30 years, Reily bought several other brands. These came from both local and national companies. Some of these brands include:
- Swans Down Cake Flour
- Try Me Sauces & Seasonings (like Tiger Sauce)
- Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili
- La Martinique Salad Dressings
- Carroll Shelby's Original Texas-Style Chili
- Presto Cake Flour
- No Pudge Fat Free Brownie Mix
- French Market Coffees
- New England Tea & Coffee
The Reily Family's Leadership
For over 100 years, a member of the Reily family has led Wm. B. Reily & Company and Reily Foods Company. From 1902 to 1932, William B. Reily guided the company. He grew it from a new coffee roasting business to a top supplier of coffee and tea.
From 1932 to 1968, his two sons, William B. Reily, Jr. and James W. Reily, took over. They helped the company grow quickly in the coffee and tea markets. In 1968, William B. Reily III became the leader. He helped the company add many new products. He did this by creating new items and buying other companies. Today, the fourth generation of the family, Wm. B. Reily IV, is the President and CEO.
The family home of Wm B Reily, called Kalorama, is in Collinston, Louisiana. It is now a nature preserve that people can visit. It has also been added to the national list of historic places.
Reily Foods Brands
- Luzianne
- Luzianne Iced Tea
- Luzianne Coffees
- Luzianne Cajun Foods
- French Market Coffees
- New England Tea & Coffee
- Bonus Blend Coffees
- JFG Coffees
- JFG Mayonnaise
- Coffee Partner Ground Chicory
- Blue Plate Mayonnaise
- La Martinique Dressings
- Try Me Sauces & Seasoning
- Carroll Shelby Chili
- Wick Fowler Chili
- Swans Down Cake Flour
- Presto Self-Rising Cake Flour
- No Pudge! Fat Free Brownie Mix
Other Companies Reily Owns
- Evamor Alkaline Artesian Water
- SIP Technologies
