Libby's

File:First libby plant.jpg

The company was founded as Libby, McNeill & Libby in Chicago, Illinois, by Archibald McNeill and the brothers Arthur and Charles Libby.{{Cite book |last=Andreas |first=Alfred Theodore |title=History of Chicago: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time ... |publisher=A. T. Andreas |year=1886 |location=Chicago |pages=757 |language=en}} The business began with a canned meat product, beef in brine, or corned beef. The company started small and later began experimenting with the preservation of ox, beef, and pork tongues.{{Cite book |last=Wade |first=Louise Carroll |title=Chicago's Pride: The Stockyards, Packingtown, and Environs in the Nineteenth Century |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-252-07132-4 |location=Urbana, IL |pages=103 |language=en}} The product became well-known when the company began to package the meat in a trapezoid-shaped can starting in 1875.{{cite web| title=150 Years of Canned History| url=https://libbys.com/libbys-history/| website=Libby's Brand Holding| access-date=29 July 2019}} By 1880, it had 1,500 employees in Chicago.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Libby, McNeill, & Libby |url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2751.html |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |date=15 October 2004 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |editor1-first=James R. |editor1-last=Grossman |editor2-first=Ann Durkin |editor2-last=Keating |editor3-first=Janice L. |editor3-last=Reiff |isbn=978-0226310152}} In 1918, William F. Burrows was recorded as the company's chairman.{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Greg H. |title=The United States Merchant Marine in World War I: Ships, Crews, Shipbuilders and Operators |publisher=McFarland |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4766-6703-4 |location=Jefferson, NC |pages=177 |language=en}}

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By the middle of the 1930s, Libby's had about 9,000 employees only in the Chicago area. Its annual sales surpassed $100 million during the 1940s. Before and after World War II, Libby's had canning operations outside the United States in Belgium and France, at Leer in northern Germany, and in the United Kingdom.

Libby, McNeill & Libby was acquired by Nestlé in 1970.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/09/26/libby-leaving-chicago/ |title=Libby leaving Chicago |first=Charles |last=Storch |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=26 September 1985 |access-date=14 March 2018}} In the 1970s, "Libbyland"-branded frozen dinners were marketed towards children, using a mascot called "Libby the Kid".{{Cite web|last=Jason|date=2012-03-05|title=Gone But Not Forgotten Groceries: From the Frozen Foods Dept.: Libbyland Dinners|url=http://gbnfgroceries.blogspot.com/2012/03/from-frozen-foods-dept-libbyland.html|access-date=2021-12-01|website=Gone But Not Forgotten Groceries|archive-date=2021-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201195507/http://gbnfgroceries.blogspot.com/2012/03/from-frozen-foods-dept-libbyland.html|url-status=live}}

Nestlé introduced Juicy Juice in 1977, and it was branded under Libby's name. In 2006, Nestlé began to market Juicy Juice. In 2014, the Juicy Juice brand and business was sold by Nestlé to Harvest Hill Beverage Company, a portfolio company of Brynwood Partners.{{cite journal |url=https://www.bevnet.com/news/2014/nestle-usa-unloads-stake-in-juicy-juice |title=Nestlé USA unloads stake in Juicy Juice |first=Max |last=Rothman |journal=BevNET |date=2 July 2014 |access-date=16 March 2018 |archive-date=20 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620123028/https://www.bevnet.com/news/2014/nestle-usa-unloads-stake-in-juicy-juice |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/nestl-agrees-to-sell-juicy-juice-brand-to-brynwood-partners/ |title=Nestlé to sell Juicy Juice brand to Brynwood Partners |first=Chad |last=Bray |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2 July 2014 |access-date=15 March 2018 |archive-date=20 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620123025/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/nestl-agrees-to-sell-juicy-juice-brand-to-brynwood-partners/ |url-status=live }}

In 1982, Libby's canned vegetable business was acquired by S. S. Pierce Company (now Seneca Foods) and its canned fruits business was acquired by California Canners and Growers (Cal Can).{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/11/business/libby-to-sell-canning-business.html |title=Libby to Sell Canning Business |work=The New York Times |date=11 March 1982 |access-date=15 March 2018}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/12/business/libby-says-it-will-sell-its-canning-operations.html |title=Libby says it will sell its canning operations |date=12 December 1981 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=15 March 2018 |archive-date=15 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315200325/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/12/business/libby-says-it-will-sell-its-canning-operations.html |url-status=live }} In 1984, Cal Can merged with Tri-Valley Growers. In 2000, Tri-Valley Growers went bankrupt and the bulk of its operations, including the rights to the Libby's canned fruit business, was acquired by Signature Fruit LLC in 2001.{{cite news |title=Tri-Valley Growers sold off in pieces |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Tri-Valley-Growers-Sold-Off-in-Pieces-Del-Monte-2962377.php |first=Peter |last=Sinton |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=19 January 2001 |access-date=15 March 2018}} In 2006, Seneca Foods acquired Signature Fruit.{{cite news |url=https://rbj.net/2006/07/28/seneca-foods-aims-to-buy-calif-firm/ |title=Seneca Foods aims to buy Calif. firm |first=Janice |last=Pieterse |newspaper=Rochester Business Journal |date=28 July 2006 |access-date=15 March 2018 |archive-date=15 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315200133/https://rbj.net/2006/07/28/seneca-foods-aims-to-buy-calif-firm/ |url-status=live }}

Niagara Trading Company (now NTC Marketing, Inc.) acquired a long-term license for the Libby's name for canned pineapple and juices in 1983.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/24/business/niagara-trading.html |title=Niagara Trading |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 September 1983 |archive-date=14 February 2017 |access-date=10 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214202232/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/24/business/niagara-trading.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.senecafoods.com/Company/history.shtml |title=Our Company: Seneca's History |website=Seneca Foods |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007221846/http://www.senecafoods.com/Company/history.shtml |archive-date=7 October 2013}}

In 1998, Libby's canned meat business was sold by Nestlé to International Home Foods.{{cite web|url=https://www.foodonline.com/doc/international-home-foods-to-acquire-libbys-ca-0001|title=International Home Foods to Libby's canned meat products|work=Food Online|date=22 July 1998|access-date=14 March 2018|archive-date=14 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314175533/https://www.foodonline.com/doc/international-home-foods-to-acquire-libbys-ca-0001|url-status=live}} In 2000, International Home Foods was acquired by ConAgra.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-24-fi-44271-story.html |title=ConAgra to buy International Home Foods |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=24 June 2000 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=14 March 2018}}

In 2006, Nestlé sold the Libby's trademark to a Swiss entity that became known as "Libby Brand Holding".

In November 2009, Libby's announced that because of poor weather on its Illinois pumpkin farms and a depleted back stock, a canned pumpkin shortage was likely as Thanksgiving approached. Libby's accounts for the vast majority of canned pumpkin production in the United States, and the shortfall prompted Libby's to establish farms in multiple states as a hedge against another mass shortage like the one that happened in 2009.{{cite news |last=Severson |first=Kim |title=Libby's Warns of a Canned Pumpkin Shortage |url=http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/libbys-warns-of-a-canned-pumpkin-shortage/ |work=The New York Times |date=November 17, 2009}}

In 2010, Walton & Post, Inc. acquired a long-term license for the Libby's trademark for several items, including nectars, creamers, and prepared meals.

In 2015, Peaty Mills plc. acquired the Libby’s trademark license for preserved foods in the UK, Ireland and Portugal with the exceptions of corned beef, pumpkin and fruit juices. The trademark license for fruit juice in the UK is held by Refresco.

Libby's trademark in Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal is licensed to Establecimientos Industriales Archipiélago S.A.{{cite web |title=Nuestra Historia |url=https://libbys.es/nuestra-historia |trans-title=Our History |language=es |website= Establishments Industriales Archipiélago, SA |access-date=29 July 2019}}

File:Libbys logo.svg

In the 1970s, Libby's had a successful television advertising campaign featuring their jingle, "When it says Libby's Libby's Libby's on the label, label, label, you will like it, like it, like it, on your table, table, table."{{cite journal |title=Libby's Libby's Libby's |url=http://foodchronicles.blogspot.com/2005/10/libbys-libbys-libbys.html |date=10 October 2005 |journal=Food Chronicles |access-date=29 July 2019}}{{better source|date=August 2020}}{{Citation |title=LIbby's Commercial 1971 | date=11 December 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcaIMF_-1J4 |access-date=2023-06-24 |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{official website}}

• [http://www.getbacktothetable.com/ Libby's Fruits and Vegetables - Seneca Foods]
• [http://www.ilovelibbys.com Libby's Tropical Fruits and Juices - NTC Marketing]

{{ConAgra}}

{{Nestlé}}

Category:Companies based in Chicago

Category:Food and drink companies of the United States

Category:Conagra Brands

Category:Nestlé

Category:1869 introductions

Category:1869 establishments in Illinois

Category:Frozen food brands