Richelieu Foods


Richelieu Foods is a private label food manufacturing company founded in 1862, headquartered in Braintree, Massachusetts, previously owned by investment group Brynwood Partners and owned from 2010 by investment group Centerview Partners LLC and sold December 2017 to Freiberger USA Inc., Parsippany, New Jersey, USA, a subsidiary of the German Südzucker AG
The company—which produces frozen pizza, salad dressing, sauces, marinades, condiments and deli salads to be marketed by other companies as their store brand or white label brand—manufactures over 50 million frozen pizzas and more than 20 million finished crusts annually, reporting more than $200 million in yearly sales.
Companies with private label items from Richelieu include Hy-Vee, Aldi, Save-A-Lot, Sam's Club, Hannaford Brothers Co., BJ's Wholesale Club and Shaw's Supermarkets. The company's own brands have included Chef Antonio, Raveena's, Pizza Presto!, Grocer's Garden, Caterer's Collection, Oak Park, and Willow Farms.
With approximately 675 employees, Richelieu Foods operates four manufacturing facilities in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Washington Court House, Ohio, Grundy Center, Iowa and Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
According to Hoover's, Richelieu Foods' average annual revenue per worker is about $900,000.
Primary competitors include Frozen Specialties, Inc., Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. and Seneca Foods Corporation. The company saw steady growth during the 2008-2010 recession, having a $40 million, or nearly 30 percent, increase in 2008 sales.

History

The company was founded in 1862. By 1956, the company operated as Western Dressing Inc. when it was sold to an investment group in 1988. The group had the company expand its line of products. In 1994, Richelieu focused on the contract packing and private label areas. The Western Dressing brand was sold and eventually acquired by Unilever with Richelieu Foods packing the dressing until Unilever took it in-house eight years later, marketing it under the Wish Bone brand. In 2003, a Connecticut private equity firm, Brynwood Partners, purchased the company.
In 2006, the company was named Pizza Manufacturer of the Year by Snack Food and Wholesale Bakery magazine. On August 30, 2008, the company acquired the "Sauces and Dressings" division of Sara Lee Foodservice along with the Sara Lee manufacturing facility located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. In 2010, the company was purchased by Centerview Partners, a private equity firm then by Freiberger USA in 2017.