Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation is a baby food company that is owned by the Swiss branded consumer-goods firm Hero Group.
History
Beech-Nut's roots go back to 1891, to the Mohawk Valley town of Canajoharie, New York. Raymond P. Lipe, along with his friend John D. Zieley and their brothers, Walter H. Lipe and David Zieley, and Bartlett Arkell, founded The Imperial Packing Co. for the production of Beech-Nut ham. The product was based on the smoked hams of the Lipes' father, farmer Ephraim Lipe. The company's principal products were ham and bacon for the first seven years. The Zieleys sold their shares to the Lipe brothers in 1892. The company was incorporated as the Beech-Nut Packing Company in 1899. Arkell was the first president of the company. In 1900, the company's sales were $200,000. Engineers from Beech-Nut patented the first vacuum jar, with a design that included a gasket and top that could remain intact in transit and became a standard of the industry. During the first 25 years of the 20th century, the company expanded its product line into peanut butter, jam, pork and beans, ketchup, chili sauce, mustard, spaghetti, macaroni, marmalade, caramel, fruit drops, mints, chewing gum, and coffee. In April 2017, Mark Rodriguez was named the CEO of Beech-Nut Nutrition Company.
1973: Part of the company that sold only baby food was sold to a group led by lawyer Frank C. Nicholas.
1977: Beech-Nut Food Corporation became the first baby food company to have an entire product line without added salt.
1979: Nicholas sold the baby food company to Nestlé.
1981: Nabisco acquired Life Savers from the E.R. Squibb Corporation.
1987: Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation paid US $2.2 million, then the largest fine issued, for violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by selling artificially flavored sugar water as apple juice. John F. Lavery, the company's vice president for operations was convicted in criminal court and sentenced to a year and a day in jail; Niels L. Hoyvald, the president of the company, also convicted, served six months of community service. Each of them also paid a $100,000 fine.
2014: Beech-Nut launches "real food for babies," a line inspired by homemade baby food.
2015: Beech-Nut announced a recall of approximately 1,920 pounds of baby food products after receiving a single report of a small glass piece found in a jar of its baby food.
2017: Mark Rodriguez named CEO of Beech-Nut
2019: Sandra Bereti named Vice President of Marketing of Beech-Nut
