Nabisco history

1899 - A joint stock company is formed under an Ontario charter on June 1 and William Christie is made the first president of Christie, Brown and Company, Limited.

By 1900, Americans were buying ten million packages of Uneeda Biscuits a month.

By 1901, his Shredded Wheat was a huge seller, and he built a $2 million showcase factory next to Niagara Falls in New York State.

In 1902 N.B.C. introduced Barnum's Animal Crackers in the famous decorative box resembling a circus cage filled with animals.

By the age of 29, James Lewis Kraft had experience in three business enterprises, including a cheese business based in Buffalo, NY. That year, 1903, while in Chicago managing the company's local branch, Kraft's business partners eased him out.

1905 - David biscuits are introduced in Quebec by Arsene and Raymond David.

During the first eight years of its existence, when annual sales were about $40 million, the company was based in Chicago; in 1906, the corporate headquarters was moved to New York.

In this way, a completely new product was developed - in terms of its form and mixture - in 1908.

By 1909, his brothers Charles, John, Fred and Norman joined him, and they incorporated the business under the name of J.L. Kraft & Bros.

By 1910, National Biscuit employed nearly 1,300 men and women at its bakeries in Chicago, one of which was built especially to produce the company's popular “Uneeda” brand.

In 1912, four years after competitor Loose-Wiles had introduced the “Hydrox” sandwich cookie, N.B.C. introduced its clone, named “Oreo.” Green may have picked the name based on an ancient Greek word for hill.

1914 - J.L. Kraft and his brothers decide to manufacture and sell their own cheese products so the company buys its first cheese plant – in Stockton, Illinois.

In 1915, they began producing processed cheese in 3-1/2 and 7-3/4 ounce tins.

Henning Throne-Holst, the son of the founder of Norway’s Freia chocolate company, was commissioned by his father, Johan, to go to Sweden in 1916 and start a chocolate industry there named after the Freia company logo, the Marabou stork.

1921 - Cadbury becomes an international company when its first overseas factory opens in Tasmania.

In 1922, Fred hired a young chemist to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources of vitamin B – brewers yeast.

1924 - J.L. Kraft’s sales operation shows its first signs of global expansion when Kraft establishes a sales office in London.

1925 - Christie, Brown and Company, Limited is incorporated under a Dominion charter.

His first chewing gum, Vejle Tyggegummi, was introduced to the Danish market in January 1927 and became an instant success.

Perky later sold out his interest, and in 1928 Nabisco bought the Shredded Wheat Company for $35 million in Nabisco stock.

Standard Brands was formed in 1929 when the Fleischmann Company, the maker of products as diverse as yeast and gin; Chase & Sanborn, a coffee roaster; and the Royal Baking Powder Company all merged.

In 1930, Kraft-Phenix Cheese Corporation (as it was then called) was acquired by National Dairy Products Corporation.

In 1931 Nabisco took over the Bennett Biscuit Company and concentrated on its most popular product line, Milk-Bone Dog Biscuits, originally marketed as "a dog's dessert." N.B.C. boosted sales by advertising the product's breath-sweetening properties.

1933 - A revolutionary gum wrapper is developed that seals all the original factory freshness inside an airtight foil wrapper.

In 1934 Nabisco met with great success when it launched Ritz Crackers as a new prestige item.

1935 - The word ‘Uneeda’ is dropped from the colophon logo and the older form, with the letters N.B.C., is reintroduced.

In 1939, the chewing gum maker adopted the name Dandy, and the Dandy brand name appeared for the first time.

In 1941 the letters "N.B.C." in the official trademark were exchanged for the word "Nabisco," a popular nickname which had first appeared as a possible name for Uneeda Biscuits.

1942 - The Home Economics Division opens Nabisco Test Kitchens, each complete with an electric or gas range, refrigerator, stainless steel sink and streamlined cabinets.

Following Holger Sørensen death in 1943, his son, Erik Bagger-Sørensen, took charge of the company along with his mother.

1945 - Dad’s Cookies Ltd. (maker of Dad's cookies) is incorporated.

In a joint venture, Nabisco acquires part ownership of the European biscuit business of United Biscuits (founded in 1948). And United Biscuits acquires Nabisco’s business businesses in Spain, Portugal, the Middle East and Africa.

1949 - Production of Peek Freans biscuits begins in Canada when Peek Frean (Canada) Ltd. opens a bakery in East York, Ontario (Toronto). The East York bakery is located at 5 Bermondsey Road.

During the 1950’s Cadbury expands its product range, undertakes a lot of promotional work and manages to fend off competitors by keeping its direct distribution system.

1951 - National Dairy Products Corporation sales, which include Kraft dressings, dinner and cheeses, top the $1 billion mark.

1953 - Christie, Brown and Company, Limited celebrates its 100th anniversary.

1956 - Production begins at the company’s new Rockford, Illinois plant in October.

1957 - On February 2nd the National Biscuit Company corporate offices move from the lower west side to a midtown skyscraper located on Park Avenue between 55th and 56th streets.

The reconstruction program culminated in 1958 with the opening of an ultra-modern bakery and research center in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

In 1960 Lee S. Bickmore succeeded Coppers as president and the company accelerated acquisitions and overseas expansion.

In 1961 Nabisco acquired the Cream of Wheat Corporation and the French firm Biscuits Gondolo.

1962 - National Biscuit Company acquires Frears Ltd. of England.

In 1963 Nabisco acquired Biscuits Belin of France, the Danish baking concern Oxford Biscuit Fabrik, and the James O. Welch Company, makers of Junior Mints and Sugar Babies.

1964 - Warner Lambert, through its British affiliate, purchases Hall Bros (Whitefield) Ltd., of Manchester, England.

Overseas acquisitions continued apace in 1965 with the addition of the Italian biscuit company Saiwa and the Spanish bakery Galletas.

In 1966, Nabisco introduced Chips Ahoy!, which went on to great success.

1968 - Dad’s Industries Ltd. is incorporated, with Dad’s Cookies Ltd. as a subsidiary.

1969 - Cadbury Group Ltd. merges with Schweppes Ltd. to create Cadbury Schweppes plc.

In 1970 the company made its first Asian investment by establishing a joint venture with the Yamazaki Baking Company of Japan.

1971 - National Biscuit Company formally changes its name to Nabisco, Inc. as of April 27 although it has used the Nabisco name on an informal basis for many years.

When Bickmore retired in 1972, Nabisco had become a billion-dollar company.

1973 - Construction begins for a new global headquarters building in East Hanover, New Jersey.

1974 - The suggested retail price of Dentyne, Trident, Chiclets and other Adams brand gums is now 15 cents per package.

Aurora proved largely unprofitable and was sold in 1977.

1980 - Kraft, Inc. establishes the company’s first European headquarters in Eschborn, Germany.

Nabisco Brands was formed in 1981 through a merger of Nabisco and Standard Brands.

In 1982 Nabisco Brands purchased the English biscuit company Huntley and Palmer Foods for $140 million.

1983 - In January, Nabisco Brands Canada Ltd. acquires Associated Biscuits of Canada Ltd., maker of Dad's, David, Harnois, and Peek Freans brands of cookies and crackers.

Only four years later, in 1985, tobacco company R.J. Reynolds, looking to diversify beyond cigarettes, bought Nabisco Brands for $4.9 billion.

The following year Research & Development magazine names it “1986 Laboratory of the Year.”

The company attracted the attention of corporate buyout experts KKR, who took the company private for $24.9 billion in 1988, in the biggest leveraged buyout in American history up through that time.

In what was the biggest merger of its time, RJR Nabisco became privately owned in 1989 when it was merged into investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Although independent operations, the Freia and Marabou companies worked closely together over the years, and in 1990 Freia bought the Marabou chocolate business.

For example, in Brazil, cookie and cracker sales increased by 39 percent in 1991.

By October of 1992, the Nabisco Foods Group had acquired Plush Pippin Corporation and Stella D'Oro Company.

1993 - KGF International purchases Freia Marabou, Scandinavia’s premier confectioner, and Terry’s of York, a major United Kingdom confectioner.

1994 - Lower-fat versions of Nabisco’s most popular brands of cookies and crackers are introduced, including Oreo, Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, Wheat Thins, Triscuit, Better Cheddars and Cheese Nips.

1995 - In January, Kraft General Foods reorganizes into one operating company and changes its name to Kraft Foods, Inc.

1996 - In September, Kraft Foods launches Kraft Interactive Kitchen (now kraftfoods.com), an internet site for consumers devoted to good food and good food ideas.

1997 - Warner-Lambert changes the name of its gum and confectionery unit from American Chicle Group to Adams.

In 2000, Philip Morris bought Nabisco for $14.9 billion.

2001 - Kraft Foods International strengthens its coffee business in Central and Eastern Europe and North Africa through the acquisition of several coffee brands in Bulgaria, Romania, and Morocco.

2002 - Kraft Foods begins a major expansion of its worldwide headquarters in Northfield, Illinois.

2003 - Cadbury becomes the world’s number one confectionery company ( and number 2 in chewing gum) with the acquisition in March of United States-based Adams chewing gum business.

2005 - Kraft Foods International expands into Croatia and Slovenia, bringing to 70 the total number of countries where the company now has operations.

Kraft announces it will build a plant in Bahrain in September 2006.

In 2007 Kraft Foods Inc. acquired Group Danone's global biscuit business including the market-leading LU brand.

2008 - Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) replaces American International Group Inc. (AIG) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, effective with the opening of trading on September 22.

2010 - On February 2, Cadbury plc is acquired by United States based Kraft Foods Inc. in a £11.5 billion deal.

In 2011, Kraft Foods announced that it was splitting into a grocery company and a snack food company.