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Merisant history
Merisant company history timeline
Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James Schlatter, a research scientist at the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle, while he was combining amino acids in search of an ulcer drug.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initally approved the substance for use in foodstuffs in 1974, but withdrew approval the following year because of concerns that the sweetener might cause brain damage in animals.
Donald began his career in 1976, while still a student at Washington University in St Louis, working as a summer employee in market research at the agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto.
By 1983, aspartame was an approved food additive in nearly all of Europe.
By 1985, aspartame sales topped $700 million.
In 1993, he was named group vice president for North America and expanded his responsibilities one year later to include Latin America.
In 1995, Donald was appointed to head Monsanto’s Crop Protection Unit, where he directed the company’s worldwide crop business, led the development, production, and marketing of herbicides, and some of the company’s early biotech offerings.
In 1997, he was named co-president of the Monsanto Company’s newly reorganized agriculture sector.
The company was formed from Monsanto Company's tabletop sweetener business, which was acquired by a group of investors in 2000.
He had served on the board of Carnival Plc. and Carnival Corporation since 2001.
——, "St Louis-Based Equal Manufacturer Launches Campaign to Recast Brand," Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, June 11, 2002.
Studies by the French Food Safety Agency (2002) and the European Union Commission Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General's Scientific Committee on Food (2002) reaffirmed the safety of the sweetener.
Lee, Thomas, "Rival's Success Doesn't Sour Chairman of Clayton, Mo., Sweetener Maker," Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, August 1, 2003.
Equal's market share fell five percent in 2003 to 25.6 percent of United States sales to mass merchandisers, supermarkets, and drugstores.
Splenda grew 99 percent and secured 37.3 percent of those markets during 2003; Sweet'N Low held 17.8 percent.
Schmeltzer, John, "Chicago-Based Artificial Sweetener Company Cancels Stock, Debt Offering," Chicago Tribune, November 2, 2004.
Other new products released in 2004 focused on packaging innovations that would carry Equal out of the home.
It is just a matter of understanding." At the end of the third quarter of 2004, Merisant reported net sales of $251, 577, 000, down slightly from the previous year, and posted an estimated loss of $2.2 million.
Donald has served as an independent director at Russell Brands, LLC since 2004.
It was acquired by MacAndrews & Forbes in 2014.
In January 2019, Merisant launched Sugarly Sweet range of sweeteners exclusively for Amazon as part of the Amazon Accelerator Program, bringing a new brand from development to launch in just 90 days.
Arnold W. Donald was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on May 15, 2019.
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