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TreeHouse Foods

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TreeHouse Foods Inc.
Company typePublic
NYSE: THS
S&P 600 component
IndustryGrocery product manufacturer
Founded2005; 20 years ago (2005)
HeadquartersOak Brook, Illinois, United States
ProductsPrivate label grocery products
Revenue$3.45 billion USD (2023)
Number of employees
7,500[1] (2023)
Websitewww.treehousefoods.com

TreeHouse Foods Inc. is a multinational food processing company specializing in producing private label packaged foods headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois.[2][3][4] Created in 2005[5] and consisting entirely of acquisitions,[5] in 2010 the company had sales of $2 billion[5] and employed over 4,000 people at 20 facilities.[5] Food Processing magazine named TreeHouse Foods their 2010 Processor of the Year,[5] calling them "the biggest company you never heard of".[5][6] In 2015, the company was the 37th-largest food and beverage company in North America.[7] In 2018, TreeHouse Foods was ranked No. 446 on the Fortune 500 list.[8] In 2020, it dropped to No. 552 into the Fortune 1000 list.[9]

History

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In 2005, Dean Specialty Foods was spun off from Dean Foods as Bay Valley Foods, LLC, a division of TreeHouse Foods, Inc.[10] In June of that year, TreeHouse Foods started trading on the New York Stock Exchange with a ticker of THS.[10]

Michelle Obama was a member of the board of directors from 2005 through 2007.[11]

On October 22 2024, Treehouse foods recalled over 100 varieties of frozen pre-made waffle and pancake products.[12]

Acquisitions and divestitures

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  • 2006: Acquired the soup business of Del Monte Foods.[10]
  • 2007: Acquired the salsa and picante business of San Antonio Farms, acquired jam, jelly, syrup and pie-filling (both brand name and private-label) producer E. D. Smith, founded by the Canadian politician E. D. Smith[10]
  • 2010: Acquired Sturm Foods and S.T. Specialty Foods[10]
  • 2013: Acquired Naturally Fresh, Inc., Cains Foods,[13][14] and Associated Brands[10][15]
  • 2014: Made a bid to acquire Michael Foods Group Inc[16][17]
  • In April 2014, TreeHouse acquired private-label soup and gravy maker Protenergy Natural Foods from Whitecastle Investments.[18]
  • In June 2014, TreeHouse announced that it was buying Minnesota-based Flagstone Foods for $860 million as a way to gain access to the growing healthy snacks category.[19] The company said the acquisition would push its annual turnover towards $3.5 billion.[20][21][22][23]
  • 2016: Acquired Ralcorp, the ConAgra Foods private-brand business division, for $2.7B.[24]
  • 2018: Sold McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, acquired with Sturm Foods in 2010, to B&G Foods for $32 million.[25][26]
  • 2020: Acquired majority of Ebro's Riviana Foods U.S. branded pasta business for $242.5 million in cash. The acquisition included the following regional pasta brands: Skinner, No Yolks, American Beauty, Creamette, San Giorgio, Prince Spaghetti and Light 'n Fluffy, Mrs. Weiss', New Mill, P&R Procino-Rossi and Wacky Mac, as well as the St. Louis manufacturing facility, which employs approximately 90 people.[27]
  • 2022: The pasta business and E. D. Smith, along with Knox gelatin,[28] were sold in October to Investindustrial for $950 million and renamed Winland Foods.[29]

Subsidiaries

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Bay Valley Foods, LLC

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Bay Valley Foods, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryGrocery manufacturing
Predecessor
  • Dean Pickle and Specialty Products
  • Green Bay Food Co.
  • Arnold Brothers
  • Alart & McGuire
FoundedJune 27, 2005; 20 years ago (2005-06-27)
Headquarters
Green Bay, Wisconsin
,
United States
ParentTreeHouse Foods, Inc.
Websitewww.bayvalleyfoods.com

Bay Valley Foods traces its earliest predecessor back to the 1862 establishment of a company that would become Alart & McGuire, a pioneering New York pickle manufacturer.[30][31] Alart & McGuire was operating in Virginia by 1893, and had expanded as far west as Wisconsin by 1907.[32][33] The company built a large pickle factory in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1917.[34] In 1925, Alart & McGuire was sold to Arnold Brothers Pickle and Preserve Co., incorporated in Chicago in 1922.[31][34] Arnold Brothers became Green Bay Food Company around 1929.[34][35]

Its modern history begins with a portfolio of products assembled by Dean Foods, a large dairy producer founded in Illinois in 1925.[36] Dean Milk Company purchased Green Bay Food Company in 1962, one of its first acquisitions outside of the dairy industry.[35] Dean Milk Company changed its name to Dean Food Company a year later, and continued to grow though a series of acquisitions over the following decades.[36] Green Bay Food Company was renamed Dean Pickle and Specialty Products Company in 1994.[37] On January 27, 2005, Dean Foods announced that it was exiting the specialty foods segment.[38] The assets of Dean's Specialty Foods Group were transferred to the newly-created Bay Valley Foods, with administrative offices in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on June 27, 2005.[37]

Sturm Foods, Inc.

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Sturm Foods, Inc.
FormerlyA. Sturm & Sons
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryDry grocery manufacturing
Founded1905; 120 years ago (1905)
FounderArthur Sturm
Headquarters
Manawa, Wisconsin
,
United States
Products
Revenue$340 million (2009)
Number of employees
750 (2009)
ParentBay Valley Foods, LLC
Websitewww.sturmfoods.com

Sturm Foods began in 1905 as a dairy farm in Manawa, Wisconsin operated by Arthur Sturm and his sons Carl, Clarence, Paul, and Arthur, Jr. It began to grow when they started buying eggs from local farmers and shipping them to relatives in Chicago to sell in the city. During the 1930s they expanded into other bulk commodities, including sugar, seed, twine, potatoes, flour, coal, and gasoline. They produced large quantities of powdered eggs and powdered milk for the military during World War II, which led to the installation of their first packaging lines for consumer-sized products. The company began producing private label products for retailers in the early 1970s. It saw further expansion during the 1980s and '90s, growing from 150 to 500 employees.[39] In July 2000, the company changed its name from A. Sturm & Sons to Sturm Foods.[40] Private equity firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, which later became HM Capital Partners, bought the company in May 2005.[39]

On December 21, 2009, TreeHouse Foods announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase Sturm Foods from HM Capital Partners for $660 million.[41] To finance the purchase, TreeHouse sold $400 million of new bonds carrying an eight year term and an interest rate of 7.75%, and issued 2.7 million shares of stock at $43.00 per share. The remainder was funded from its revolving credit facility. The company cited Sturm's strength in private label hot cereal and powdered drink mixes as key benefits of the deal, and expected the purchase to add $0.38 to $0.40 per share to its annual earnings, a 16% increase. Sturm had $340 million in sales for the year ending September 30, 2009, and 750 employees. The sale was completed March 2, 2010.[42]

Business model

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The company's primary business strategy is to acquire producers of private-label products in Canada and the U.S.[43] It services both the retail grocery[44] and the foodservice distribution channels.[45][46] In addition to private-brand non-dairy creamers, single-serving coffee pods,[47][48] baby foods, salad dressings, marinades, dips, soups,[49] sauces, dry-mix pasta dinners, jams, spreads, and cereals,[17] the company also maintains several brand-name products including Cremora non-dairy coffee lightener,[2] Second Nature egg substitutes, and Nature's Goodness baby foods.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Company Info: TreehouseFoods Inc". WSJ.com. Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Behind the Brand: TreeHouse Foods". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  3. ^ Hargrave, Marshall (2014-03-26). "There Is Money To Be Made In Store Brand Foods". Motley Fool. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. ^ Watson, Elaine (8 November 2013). "TreeHouse Foods cashes in as consumers opt for premium private label single-serve coffee, tea". Food Navigator. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Fusaro, Dave (30 November 2010). "2010 Processor of the Year: Treehouse Foods". Food Processing. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  6. ^ Thain, Greg (2012). Store Wars: The Worldwide Battle for Mindspace and Shelfspace. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-37406-1.
  7. ^ "Food Processing's Top 100". Food Processing. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  8. ^ "TreeHouse Foods". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  9. ^ "TreeHouse Foods Company Profile". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "History". TreeHouse Foods. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Obama's Wife Quits Post On TreeHouse Foods Board". CNBC. 23 May 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  12. ^ "TreeHouse Foods Announces Expansion of Voluntary Recall to Include All Waffle and Pancake Products Due to the Potential for Listeria monocytogenes Contamination" (Press release). October 22, 2024 – via PR Newswire.
  13. ^ Waterhouse, Gail. "Cains Foods sold for $35 Million to TreeHouse Foods". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  14. ^ "TreeHouse Foods, Inc Completes Acquisition of Cains Foods L.P." Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  15. ^ "TreeHouse Foods to buy Associated Brands". Chicago Business Journal. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  16. ^ "TreeHouse Foods (THS)/Michael Foods Deal Has Limited Potential". StreetInsider.com. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  17. ^ a b Oran, Olivia (2014-03-19). "TreeHouse Foods joins list of Michael Foods Suitors". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  18. ^ Calia, Michael (21 April 2014). "TreeHouse Foods to Buy Protenergy Natural Foods". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  19. ^ "TreeHouse Foods Buying Flagstone Foods for $860M". ABC NEWS. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  20. ^ "TreeHouse Foods acquiring health snack maker Flagstone Foods for $860 mn". Minneapolis News.Net. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  21. ^ Wang, Selina (30 June 2014). "TreeHouse Foods to Buy Flagstone for $860 Million". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  22. ^ "TreeHouse Foods to Acquire Flagstone Foods for $860 million". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  23. ^ Xu, Jodi. "TreeHouse Foods Said to Weigh Acquisition of Flagstone Foods". Business Week. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  24. ^ Finance.yahoo.com: "TreeHouse Foods acquisition of Ralcorp from ConAgra Foods", November 2015.
  25. ^ "TreeHouse Foods, Inc. Completes the Sale of McCann's Irish Oatmeal to B&G Foods" (Press release). Oak Brook, IL: TreeHouse Foods. PR Newswire. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  26. ^ Poinski, Megan (July 17, 2018). "B&G Foods buys McCann's Irish Oatmeal from TreeHouse Foods for $32M". Food Dive. Industry Dive. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
  27. ^ "TreeHouse Foods Completes Acquisition of Majority of Ebro's Riviana Foods U.S. Branded Pastas". PR Newswire (Press release). December 11, 2020.
  28. ^ "Products (Preserves, Baking & Pie Fillings)". Winland Foods. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  29. ^ "Treehouse Foods Completes Sale Of Significant Portion Of Its Meal Preparation Business To Investindustrial". PR Newswire (Press release). October 3, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  30. ^ "About Us". Bay Valley Foods. n.d. Archived from the original on November 11, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  31. ^ a b Mike (November 8, 2016). "Alart & McGuire, OK Pickles". Bay Bottles. New York. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  32. ^ "Brooke Pickle Factory". Discover Stafford. Stafford, Virginia: Stafford County Historical Society. n.d. Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025. Around 1893, the Alart and McGuire Pickle Company of New York took over the brining operation at Brooke, though local men continued running and managing it.
  33. ^ "Alart & McGuire". The Free Lance–Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. December 1907. p. 29. Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025 – via Discover Stafford. They have over thirty establishments, located in various sections of the country, mostly in New York State. The others are in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
  34. ^ a b c "Property Record: 857-97 SCHOOL PLACE". Wisconsin Historical Society. n.d. Retrieved June 17, 2025. The firm constructed the one and two story structure in 1917, eight years before the company was sold to the Arnold Brothers Pickle and Preserve Co. The Arnold company, in turn, was sold to the newly-organized Green Bay Food Co. in 1929.
  35. ^ a b "Historical Briefs...". Food Production/Management. Vol. 101, no. 3. September 1978. p. 8. Retrieved June 17, 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  36. ^ a b "Dean Foods Company". Encyclopedia.com. 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  37. ^ a b "TreeHouse Foods, Inc". Encyclopedia.com. 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  38. ^ Maynard, Mike (January 27, 2005). "Dean Foods to spin off specialty foods business". MarketWatch. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  39. ^ a b "Sturm History". Sturm Foods. n.d. Archived from the original on December 19, 2009. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  40. ^ "Sturm Foods, Inc". Intengine. n.d. Archived from the original on June 15, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  41. ^ "TreeHouse Foods to buy Sturm Foods for $660 mln". Reuters. December 21, 2009. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  42. ^ "TreeHouse closes acquisition of Sturm Foods". Milwaukee Business Journal. American City Business Journals. March 2, 2010. Archived from the original on March 11, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  43. ^ Gelski, Jeff. "TreeHouse on the lookout for acquisitions". Food Business News. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  44. ^ Parker, Jennifer. "Michelle Obama Cuts Ties with Controversial Wal-Mart Supplier". ABC News. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  45. ^ "TreeHouse Foods Profile". Forbes. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  46. ^ "TreeHouse Foods, Inc". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  47. ^ Solon, Olivia (4 March 2014). "Trouble brewing as company adds 'DRM' to coffee". Wired. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  48. ^ "TreeHouse Sues Green Mountain Coffee for Anti-Competitive Product". Reuters. 2014-02-11. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  49. ^ Lindeman, Teresa. "Sales rise and profit falls at TreeHouse Foods". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
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