Welch's history

After four unsuccessful years, Welch gave up on his unfermented wine in 1873.

1890 The name changes from Doctor Welch’s Unfermented Wine to Doctor Welch’s Grape Juice.

1893 Welch’s Grape Juice makes its debut at the World’s Fair in Chicago, becoming a household name.

An 1895 outbreak of black rot in Vineland forced Welch to move his operation to Westfield, New York, on the shore of Lake Erie, home of the dark Concord grape that would become Welch's signature juice.

1897 Charles Welch processes 300 tons of grapes at Welch’s plant in Westfield, NY.

A hidden gem in Leakin Park, The Crimea was the summer estate for eccentric Russophile Thomas Winans Retro: 50 years later, Tropical Storm Agnes still impacts Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem Retro: Although met with great fanfare, the 1902 Orioles season was marked by losses, warring leagues

By 1909, Welch's was making one million gallons of juice per year, and within four years, its sales exceeded $2 million.

1923 Welch’s introduces its delicious Concord Grape Jelly to the world.

Charles Welch lived long enough to see two of his father's dreams--nationwide promulgation of both Prohibition and Welch's Grape Juice&mdashø fruition before he died in 1926.

American National Company, a Nashville, Tennessee investment firm, acquired Welch's in 1928.

In 1933, Kaplan and his brother Maurice put a piece of the family fortune to work by purchasing the grape processing operations of the Chautauqua and Erie Grape Growers Cooperative (C&E) in Brocton, New York, just west of Welch's Westfield headquarters.

The repeal of Prohibition that same year allowed Kaplan to produce both wine and grape juice, but by 1939, when he changed the company name to National Grape Corporation, he elected to concentrate the company's efforts on juice.

Jack Kaplan purchased a controlling interest in the company in 1945 with the intention of quickly selling it to National Grape.

He launched processing plants in Canada and California in 1948.

1949 A pioneer in frozen concentrate, Welch’s introduces Frozen Grape Juice Concentrate.

In 1952, he devised a strategy whereby Welch's own profits would be diverted into a fund that would enable the cooperative to acquire the processor.

In 1955, Welch’s appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club and opened the famous juice stand at Disneyland.

Though the two companies were merged in 1956, they continued to operate autonomously, having separate boards of directors and management.

Since 1958, they’ve fine-tuned the art of harvesting grapes, celebrating that it is what they were meant to do in life.

1967 New products are introduced, from fruit spreads to fruit punch.

Every September since 1968, Silver Creek has celebrated the Concord Grape with an exciting festival that includes a parade, music, and grape stomping.

In recognition of its expanded product line, National Grape changed the name of its sole subsidiary to Welch Foods, Inc. in 1969.

By 1973, National Grape's sales had crossed the $100 million threshold.

The animated, gnome-like Welchkins debut as a commercial in 1981, winning the hearts of kids everywhere.

In 1982, Welch Foods hired Everett Baldwin as president and CEO to reposition and revitalize the brand.

1985 A first for the industry, Welch’s jellies and preserves are sold in squeezable containers.

Baldwin's strategies put Welch's back on the growth track, and by 1987 National Grape's annual revenues had reached nearly $300 million.

By 1996, National Grape was selling 50 million cases of fruit products for over $550 million in annual revenues.

Arts James D. Thornton named chairman of board for Baltimore Museum of Art Thornton, a museum board member since 2004, succeeds Clair Zamoiski Segal, who held the position for seven years.

2005 The largest crop in company history is received, measuring over 414,000 tons.

© 2021 Welch's All Rights Reserved.