Quaker Oats Company
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| Quaker Oats Company | |
|---|---|
| Type | Operating Division |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Key people | Robert S. Morrison, CEO |
| Industry | Food |
| Parent | PepsiCo, Inc. |
| Website | [[1]] |
The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. Quaker Oats was founded at the turn of the century by the merger of four oat mills:
- The Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio, which held the trademark on the Quaker name;[1]
- A cereal mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa owned by John Stuart, his son Robert Stuart, and their partner George Douglas;
- The German Mills American Oatmeal Company, owned by "The Oatmeal King", Ferdinand Schumacher of Akron, Ohio;
- The Rob Lewis & Co. American Oats and Barley Oatmeal Corporation. Formally known as "Good For Breakfast" instant oatmeal mix.
The company expanded into numerous areas, including other breakfast cereals and other food and drink products, and even into non-related fields such as toys. In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo.[citation needed]
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[edit] Modern history
In 1969, Quaker acquired Fisher-Price, a toy company and spun it off in 1991.
In the 1970s, the company financed the making of the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, obtaining in return a license to use a number of the product names mentioned in the movie for candy bars.
In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo, who primarily wanted the company for its Gatorade brand of sports drink. The merger created the fourth-largest consumer goods company in the world. Though the main prize of PepsiCo was Gatorade noncarbonated sports drink, Quaker's cereal and snack food division serves as healthy complements to the existing Frito-Lay salty-snacks division.
Since the late 1980s, actor Wilford Brimley has appeared in television commercials extolling the virtues of oat consumption, typically to a young child, as to introduce the concept of oatmeal consumption as a long tradition.
[edit] History In Canada
The major Canadian production facility for Quaker Oats is located in Peterborough, Ontario. The factory was first established as the American Cereal Company[2] in 1902 on the shores of the Otonabee River during that city's period of industrialization. In 1916, the factory all but completely burned to the ground. When the smoke had settled, 23 people had died and Quaker was left with $2,000,000 in damages. Quaker went on to rebuild the facility incorporating the few areas of the structure that were not destroyed by fire, creating what is today still the most visibly recognizable industrial facility in Peterborough. When PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oats in 2001, many brands were consolidated from facilities around Canada to the Peterborough location - which assumed the new QTG moniker (Quaker Tropicana Gatorade). Local production includes Quaker Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy bars, Cap'n Crunch cereal, Aunt Jemima instant pancake mixes and pancake syrups, Quaker Oat Bran and Corn Bran cereals, Gatorade sportdrinks and the Propel fitness water sub-brand, Tropicana juices, and various Frito-Lay snack products. Products are easily identified by the manufactured by address on the packaging. The Peterborough facility exports to the majority of Canada and limited portions of the United States. The Quaker plant sells cereal production byproducts to innovative companies that use them to create fire logs and pellets.
[edit] Controversy
In the 1950s, researchers from Quaker Oats Company, MIT and Harvard University carried out experiments to determine how the nutrients from cereals travelled through the body. Parents of mentally challenged children were asked for permission to let their children be members of a Science Club at their school. States, such as Massachusetts, also volunteered children who were wards of the state for the program. One well-known school that did these experiments was Walter E. Fernald State School. Being a member of the Science Club gave the children special privileges. The parents were told that the children would be fed with a diet high in nutrients. They were not, however, told (and the consent form contained no information indicating) that the food their children were fed was laced with radioactive calcium and iron. The information obtained from the experiments was to be used as part of an advertising campaign. The company was later sued because of the experiments. The lawsuit was settled on December 31, 1997, as chronicled in the book The State Boy's Rebellion by Michael D'Antonio.
[edit] Logo & Quakers
The monochromatic 1971 Quaker Oats Company Logo was created by Saul Bass, a graphic designer known for his motion picture title sequences and corporate logos. The current logo was painted by Haddon Sundblom in 1957. There is a common misconception that the smiling person featured is William Penn who was a well-known Quaker. The Quaker Oats website in fact asserts that:
The "Quaker man" is not an actual person. His image is that of a man dressed in the Quaker garb, chosen because the Quaker faith projected the values of honesty, [and] integrity.[3]
The company has no formal ties with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). When the company was being built up, Quaker businesspeople were known for their honesty (Truth is often considered a Quaker testimony). The Straight Dope writes "According to the good folks at Quaker Oats, the Quaker Man was America's first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal, his registration taking place on September 4th, 1877. "The name was chosen when Quaker Mill partner Henry Seymour found an encyclopedia article on Quakers and decided that the qualities described -- integrity, honesty, purity -- provided an appropriate identity for his company's oat product."[4] H2g2 tells that part of the company began trading with the name Quaker Mill because of a link with Pennsylvania - 'the Quaker State', however the Mill was based in Ohio and no such link has been revealed.[5] In the 1800s, when the company was formed, Quakers did wear clothes similar to those shown in the picture. This was because of the Quakers' Testimony of Simplicity - they did not want to show off their wealth with expensive clothing. Quakers currently do not tend to dress in that manner - they might instead avoid clothing with brand names advertised.
Some Quakers are uncomfortable about the company's association, as the Quaker Oats brand is, in general, better known than the Society of Friends. This leads to confusion, with many members of the public assuming that Quakers have a link with the company, or dress as shown on the company's logo. In addition, it could be argued that the company's use of the Quaker name is dishonest because of the lack of any real involvement with Quakerism, or Quaker values.[who?]
[edit] US Brands
As of 2005, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the USA:
[edit] Breakfast cereals
- Cap'n Crunch
- Life cereal
- Quisp
- Mother's Natural Foods
- Quaker 100% Natural Granola
- Kretschmer Wheat Germ
- Muffets ("The round shredded wheat")
- Quaker Oatmeal Squares
- Quaker Toasted Oatmeal
- Quaker Oh's
- King Vitaman
- Sugar Puffs
- Quaker Corn Bran
- Quaker Oat Bran
[edit] Other breakfast foods
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Quaker Oatmeal To Go (re-branded from Breakfast Squares in 2006)
- Quaker Grits
- Aunt Jemima Syrups and Mixes (Aunt Jemima frozen breakfast foods is owned by Pinnacle Foods, who use the Aunt Jemima trademark under license from Quaker Oats Company)
- Quaker Breakfast Cookies
- Quaker Instant Oatmeal
[edit] Snacks
- Quaker Rice Cakes (known as Snack-a-Jacks in the UK)
- Quakes Rice Snacks
- Quaker Soy Crisps
- Quaker Snack Bars
- Chewy Granola Bars
- Quaker Mini Delights
[edit] Mixes
- Quaker Tortilla Mix
- Rice-A-Roni
- Pasta Roni
- Near East
[edit] Drinks
- Milk Chillers
[edit] UK Brands
As of 2006, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the UK[6]:
[edit] Hot Cereals
- Quaker Oats
- Oatso Simple (various flavours)
- Scott's Porage Oats
- Scott's So Easy
(the Scott's brand, previously a rival, is now also owned by Quaker)
[edit] Ready to Eat Cereal
- Sugar Puffs - Since sold off
- Harvest Crunch
[edit] Cereal Bars
- Oat Bars (Original with golden syrup or Mixed berry flavours)
[edit] Chewy Bars
- Toffee
- Milk Choc Chip
- White Choc Chip
[edit] References
- ^ Adams, Cecil. The Strait Dope Mailbag - Is the guy on the Quaker Oats Box John Penn?. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ American Cereal Company. Ohio Historical Society.
- ^ Quaker Oatmeal -Frequently Asked Questions. The Quaker Oats Company. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ Adams, Cecil. The Strait Dope Mailbag - Is the guy on the Quaker Oats Box John Penn?. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ BBC - h2g2 - The Religious Society of Friends - The Quakers in Britain. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ Official UK web site Accessed 10 August 2006
- D'Antonio, Michael. The State Boys Rebellion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
[edit] External links
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