Dare Foods


Dare Foods, Limited is a Canada-based food manufacturing company. They have seven factories in Canada and the United States. Their products are distributed in North America and at least 25 other countries.

Company history

The founder of Dare Foods, Charles H. Doerr, started off in 1892 by making and selling cookies and candies in a small grocery shop in Berlin, Ontario, Canada. By 1919 he created the C.H. Doerr Company that distributed his goods throughout Ontario. Following Charles' death in 1941, the company was taken over by his 24 year old grandson Carl Doerr. Carl had been raised by his paternal grandparents following the death of both his parents from the Spanish flu.
On February 16, 1943 a fire destroyed the company's factory located at Weber and Breithaupt in Kitchener, killing nightwatchman Julius Eckstein and risking the future of the company, then known as C.H. Doerr Co. Ltd. Carl quickly moved to rebuild, relocating the same year as the fire to a plot of land on what is today Kingsway Drive in Kitchener.
The name of the company was legally changed to "Dare" in 1945 because it was easier to pronounce. Dare products became more popular Canada-wide by 1954 and began exporting to the U.S. in 1956.

Products

Dare is known for adopting the resealable, "tin tie" packaging, for their cookies in 1954. The resealable bag guaranteed freshness and soon became the standard packaging for cookies across Canada.
Dare continued to grow rapidly by expanding their product lines and starting new trends in the food industry. Some of their lines include: Breton crackers, RealFruit Gummies, Bremner Biscuits, Culinar "fine bread," and Grissol chocolate-coated cookies. Due to the recent awareness of nut allergies, Dare declared all of its facilities to be "peanut free." They were one of the first large food manufacturers in Canada to do this.
The following is a list of traditional products they make:
Dare tries to provide snacks for families. A few of their new promoted products are:
Since 2003, they have produced Canada's Girl Guide cookies.

Contact Information

Dare Foods Ltd. still has its head office in Kitchener, Ontario, where Charles H. Doerr first started his shop. They have an English service phone number and a French number.