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Ghirardelli Chocolate history
Ghirardelli Chocolate company history timeline
Ghirardelli Chocolate—which was founded in 1852—is the second oldest chocolate company in the United States, after Baker’s Chocolate which was established in 1764.
His chocolate store at Washington and Kearny Street—which opened in 1852—was named Ghirardely & Girard.
But by 1885 the company was importing 450,000 pounds of cocoa beans a year, as well as importing and grinding spices and selling coffee, wine, and liquor.
Founded in 1892, Ghirardelli is one of the oldest and most venerable chocolate makers in the United States Ghirardelli focuses on high product quality and maintains a leading position in the rapidly growing premium chocolate segment of the United States market.
Domingo Ghirardelli, Jr., the founder's eldest son, was president of the company through this period until 1922.
Then in 1963 the Golden Grain Company offered to buy the chocolate company.
The project officially opened on November 29, 1964.
In 1986 Quaker Oats, the Chicago-based food conglomerate, acquired Golden Grain, and with it, Ghirardelli.
Total annual sales rose from $37 million in 1992 to about $75 million just two years later.
Since 1993, the company had been on an expansion program, and its acquisition of Ghirardelli fulfilled its objective of increasing its share of the North American market.
In November 1994, Ghirardelli announced that it had forged a distribution deal with the Sam's Club food chain, a grocery chain owned by Wal-Mart.
In 1999 the company was still on an expansion track, working on increasing its presence as a national brand by getting more items on supermarket shelves.
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Ghirardelli Chocolate competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panera Bread | 1981 | $2.8B | 140,000 | 5,026 |
| Bristol Farms | 1982 | $1.4B | 7,500 | 75 |
| General Mills | 1866 | $19.9B | 35,000 | 169 |
| Jelly Belly | 1976 | $190.0M | 800 | 16 |
| Mrs. Fields Famous Brands | 1977 | $145.5M | 4,000 | - |
| Peet's Coffee | 1966 | $983.0M | 5,000 | 148 |
| Odwalla Juice Co | 1980 | $187.9M | 900 | - |
| See's Candies | 1921 | $410.0M | 2,500 | 95 |
| Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory | 1981 | $21.8M | 231 | - |
| Kilwins | 1947 | $31.0M | 341 | 4 |
Ghirardelli Chocolate history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Ghirardelli Chocolate, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Ghirardelli Chocolate. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Ghirardelli Chocolate. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Ghirardelli Chocolate. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Ghirardelli Chocolate and its employees or that of Zippia.
Ghirardelli Chocolate may also be known as or be related to Ghirardelli Chocolate, Ghirardelli Chocolate Co, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company and The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.