Hanover Foods history

Harry Warehime's son, Alan R. Warehime, joined the family business in 1934, after graduating from Pennsylvania State University with degrees in agriculture and economics.

Emeco 1006 Navy ChairA common target for knockoffs today, Emeco developed its famous 1006 Navy Chair (pictured below) during World War II. William Carlyle Dinges founded Emeco, which stands for Electrical Machine and Equipment Company, in Hanover in 1944.

In 1954, Hanover Canning added frozen vegetables to its established line of canned products.

These convenient, ready-to-eat items proved very popular with consumers, particularly Hanover Canning's glass-packaged 3-Bean Salad, which debuted in 1955.

With annual sales exceeding $2 million in 1960, this snack food company provided Hanover Canning with clear advantages.

In 1961, Harry’s family acquired Snyder’s Bakery.

1975: Hanover Brands establishes its Alcosa Central American branch.

In 1980, the companies separated into Snyder’s of Hanover and Hanover Brands so each company could better focus on its individual industry.

John Warehime then used his power as the sole trustee of the Alan R. Warehime Voting Trust to remove his siblings from the board. (In 1988, Alan Warehime had established the Voting Trust as a means of ensuring stability, and had named John Warehime as its trustee.

In March 1989, Hanover Brands announced its purchase of F.O. Mitchell & Bro.

While integrating Spring Glen into its operations, the company also began to expand the product offerings sold under the Hanover brand to include 'meal starters.' In 1991, Hanover launched a line of Stir Fry products that included pre-prepared vegetables and sauce packets.

In 1993, Michael Warehime--the president of Snyder's of Hanover and a shareholder and board member at Hanover Foods--discovered that John Warehime had made unauthorized loans worth $4.1 million to his ailing Food Services East Inc. using Hanover Foods capital.

In September 1996, 12 shareholders filed a civil suit on behalf of the company against John Warehime and the directors.

In 1998, Hanover Foods also returned to its former business of snack foods when it acquired the Manheim, Pennsylvania-based Bickel's Snack Foods.

Seeking to capitalize on the higher margins of this food category, Hanover Foods purchased other snack foods concerns in 1999, namely York Snacks and Bonton Foods.

Legacy ships products throughout the United States In 2018, Legacy merged with fellow Pennsylvania-based company League to form L2 Brands.