Oil-Dri Corporation of America history

Oil-Dri Corporation of America was incorporated in Delaware as the successor to the Illinois corporation that was incorporated in 1946.

Jaffee earned his degree in accounting and went on to become a CPA. In 1958 he began working full time for Oil-Dri and two years later became the firm’s second president.

The father and son by 1960 concentrated on building Amco.

After the founder died in 1962 at age 56, Richard Jaffee struggled without the advice of his father to make sure the family business prospered.

Jaffee decided to take the firm public in 1971.

In 1979 Oil-Dri expanded its West Coast operations by buying the facility and clay reserves of the American Fossil Company in Christmas Valley, Oregon.

In 1981 the firm contracted with The Clorox Company to develop nationally sold Fresh Step and Control Cat Litters.

In 1983 it created Oil-Dri Transportation Company to limit its distribution costs.

Cat litter from Oil-Dri and its competitors, along with decreasing American family size, helped the cat replace the dog as the number one pet in America in 1985.

By 1988, the nation’s cats outnumbered dogs 58 million to 49 million.

In 1990 it acquired Industrial Environmental Products, Inc., the manufacturer of polypropylene absorbents.

When Oil-Dri Corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1991, its sales were 100 times greater than 20 years before.

Wal-Mart and other mass merchandisers attracted consumers who formerly could buy scoopable litter only at pet stores. For example, in February 1993 Wal-Mart contracted with Oil-Dri to make its Lasting Pride brand of scoopable cat litter.

The Jaffee family in 1995 maintained control over Oil-Dri by owning 30 percent of its stock and all its voting stock.

By 1996, Oil-Dri sold mainly its fluids purification products to 60 nations.

“Oil-Dri Corporation of America: Interview of Richard M. Jaffee,” Wall Street Corporate Reporter, January 13-19, 1997.

Oil-Dri also extended its Cat’s Pride brand in 1998 with the introduction of paper-based litters called Dust Stoppers and Scoop ’N Flush, the latter of which could be safely flushed down a toilet.

In the meantime, Oil-Dri augmented its agricultural products operations via the October 1999 acquisition of Pro’s Choice, Inc., a maker of conditioning products for sports fields.

In December 2002 the company acquired the Jonny Cat cat litter business from Clorox for $6.5 million.

However, the dog treats business, later renamed Phoebe Products Company, never took off, and Oil-Dri sold the unit in February 2004.

By fiscal 2006 Oil-Dri’s revenues were rising at a sharper rate thanks to price increases and the greater array of premium offerings within the firm’s product mix.

The Richard M. Jaffee Laboratory for Applied Microbiology opened in November of 2019.