Shearer's Foods facts for kids
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| Private company | |
| Industry | Snack food |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Area served
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United States Canada minimal global distribution |
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Key people
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Bill Nictakis CEO |
| Products | List of products |
| Owner |
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Shearer's Foods, LLC is a company in the United States that makes and sells snack foods. It started in 1974 as Shearer's Snacks. The company's main office is in Massillon, Ohio.
Shearer's Foods has more than 5,000 employees. They work in eight different factories. The company makes its own snacks, like Shearer's Potato Chips. They also make snacks for other companies and stores.
Shearer's has factories in Ohio, Texas, Arkansas, Oregon, Virginia, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ontario, Canada. Their snacks are sold around the world. The factory in Massillon, Ohio, was the first food factory in the world to get a special award for being very environmentally friendly.
In December 2023, a company called Clayton Dubilier & Rice bought Shearer's Foods.
Contents
The Story of Shearer's Foods
In the early 1900s, the Shearer family opened a grocery store in Canton, Ohio. Jack Shearer and his wife, Rosemary, were the third generation to run this family store. They operated it from the 1950s until 1976.
In 1974, they bought a business that distributed snack foods. They named it Brookside Distributing. By 1979, they started making their own "hand-cooked" potato chips. They soon found that cooking chips in a kettle made them crunchier and easier to make the same way every time. The Shearers cooked these chips in kettles, packed them in bags, and sold them under the name "Kettle-Cook'd."
Growing Bigger
In 1982, Shearer's bought a larger building in Brewster, Ohio. Soon, they had six hand-kettles and a machine for roasting peanuts. The "Grandma Shearer's" logo appeared on snack bags in 1983. At that time, they were using 3,700 pounds of potatoes every day!
In 1986, Shearer's added its first continuous fryer. This machine could make up to 1,000 pounds of potato chips every hour. They also made their warehouse bigger. The company kept growing through the 1990s. They added more fryers, special automatic stirring systems for their kettles, and new equipment for making tortilla chips and cheese curls. They also added a lot more space to their factory.
In the early 2000s, Shearer's installed more hand-kettle cookers and a new system for peeling potatoes. They also bought more land, bringing their total property to 77 acres. Part of their storage moved to Massillon, nine miles from their main office.
Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine named Shearer's "Snack Manufacturer of the Year" in 2002 and again in 2011.
In 2004, Shearer's got a new logo and updated its snack packaging. They also made their factory outlet store larger. A new water treatment plant was finished, and six more hand-kettle cookers were added. This made Shearer's one of the biggest makers of kettle-cooked potato chips in the country.
Recent Changes
People started wanting healthier snacks. So, in 2006, Shearer's introduced three new whole grain tortilla chip products. These chips were made with 100% whole grain yellow corn.
- 2008: Shearer's announced plans to build a new factory. This factory would be the first in the world to earn the highest award for being environmentally friendly.
- 2009: The company launched two new snack brands: Tangos™ Tortilla Chips and Shapers™ Whole Grain Chips.
- 2010: Shearer's bought Snack Alliance, Inc. This company made branded and private label snacks in North America. Snack Alliance had factories in Oregon and Virginia. They made potato chips, tortilla chips, and their Riceworks brand of whole grain rice snacks.
- May 2011: Shearer's started making its potato chips with zero trans fat. They cooked these chips in 100% canola oil.
- June 2012: The company moved its main office to the Grand Mill Centre building in downtown Massillon, Ohio.
- October 2012: Shearer's was sold to a company called Wind Point Partners.
- January 2015: The Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan bought most of Shearer's. They had already owned some of the company since 2012. After 2012, Shearer's bought Lance Private Brands and Medallion Foods. These purchases doubled the size of Shearer's business.
- 2016: Shearer's bought Barrel O' Fun. This company was in Perham, Minnesota. Barrel O' Fun made many of the same snacks as Shearer's. Shearer's now runs the Barrel O' Fun factory and warehouse. They still make Barrel O' Fun brand snacks there, along with private label brands.
- 2021: Shearer's Foods stopped making its own Shearer's brand snacks. They decided to focus only on making snacks for other companies and private labels.
Caring for the Environment
Shearer's Foods is committed to being environmentally friendly. They joined Energy Star in 2006. This program helps companies improve how they use energy. Shearer's works to use less energy in its offices, factories, and distribution centers. They even won an award for their efforts.
Their program to manage energy includes:
- A "zero waste" program. This means all factories try to send less than one percent of their waste to landfills.
- Recycling leftover snacks and wet waste. This waste is used as animal feed.
- Collecting all potato starch. This starch is refined and used as an industrial lubricant.
- Recycling all used vegetable oil.
- Changing to energy-efficient lighting in their Brewster and Lubbock factories. They also use this lighting in their Navarre Distribution warehouse.
- Using new oil filtration equipment. This makes the oil better quality and reduces waste.
- Using special equipment on air handling units. This greatly reduces how much natural gas they use for heating.
- Having wastewater treatment facilities. These facilities meet state Environmental Protection Agency rules.
In 2009, the company started building its special factory in Massillon, Ohio. This factory was designed to be very environmentally friendly. It was the first manufacturing plant in the world to receive the highest award for environmental responsibility.
How Snacks Are Made
Shearer's makes its many products from potatoes and different types of corn. They use yellow, white, blue, and organic corn. For tortilla chips, they even make their own masa (a dough made from corn).
The company has a team that creates new flavors and seasonings. They also work with other companies to develop new tastes.
What Shearer's Can Make
Shearer's has different ways to make snacks:
- They use hand kettles to make kettle-cooked potato chips.
- They have continuous lines for making standard, wavy, and rippled potato chips.
- They have lines for making tortilla chips.
- They use extruders to make curl and puff products.
- They also use twin screw extrusion for certain products.
Their products include sliced, rippled, and wavy potato chips. They also make kettle-cooked potato chips, tortilla chips, and other puffed snacks like cheese curls and puff corn.
The company has six distribution centers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. They deliver snacks using their own routes. They also work with other distributors in the midwestern United States, New England, and parts of Canada.
Factory Locations
Shearer's has factories in many places:
- Massillon, Ohio: This is where the main office is, and it has the special environmentally friendly factory.
- Brewster, Ohio: This is a main factory.
- Bristol, Virginia: A manufacturing plant.
- Burlington, Iowa: A manufacturing plant.
- Fort Worth, Texas: A manufacturing plant.
- Guelph, Ontario: A manufacturing plant in Canada.
- Lubbock, Texas: A factory that makes snacks for other companies.
- Newport, Arkansas: A manufacturing plant.
- Phoenix, Arizona: A manufacturing plant.
- Perham, Minnesota: A manufacturing plant.
- Waterford, Pennsylvania: A manufacturing plant.
Snack Products
Shearer's used to make its own branded snacks, but as of 2021, they focus on making snacks for other companies. Here are some of the types of snacks they used to make under their own brand:
- Kettle Cooked Potato Chips in flavors like Original, Mesquite BBQ, Sea Salt and Pepper, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Hot Pepper Jalapeño, and 40% Less Fat.
- Home-Style Potato Chips in Classic, Bacon-Cheddar, and Rippled.
- Rippled Potato Chips in Original, Sour Cream and Onion, and Home Run Hot Dog (seasonal).
- Savory Potato Chips in Original, Sour Cream & Onion, Lightly Salted, Cheddar & Sour Cream, and Barbeque.
- Baked Cheese Curls and Krazi Curls.
- Butter Puffs and Cheese Puffs.
- Pretzels in Thins, Minis, Sticks, and flavors like Honey Wheat and Butter Twist.
- Pork Rinds in Original and Barbecue flavors.
- Tortilla chips in Multigrain & Flaxseed, Fire Roasted Veggie, Blue Corn & Sesame, Deli Rounds, Bite Size, Cantina Style, Margarita Lime, and Restaurant Style.
Other snack brands that Shearer's has owned or made include riceworks, Granny Goose, Thin & Crispy, Brent & Sam's, Delicious Bakery, and Vista.
