Ore-Ida
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![]() A trailer advertising the Ore-Ida brand, showing the outlines of Oregon and Idaho | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Retail, food |
Founded | 1952 |
Founders | Ross Erin Butler Sr. Francis Nephi Grigg Golden Grigg[1][2][3] |
Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Parent | Kraft Heinz |
Website | oreida.com |
Ore-Ida is an American brand of potato-based frozen foods currently produced and distributed by Kraft Heinz's, H.J. Heinz Company Brands LLC. based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Ore-Ida's primary production facility is located in Ontario, Oregon near the Idaho border where the company was originally founded in 1949.[3][4]
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Nephi_Grigg_Tater_Tots_Inventor_Oreida_Founder.jpg/233px-Nephi_Grigg_Tater_Tots_Inventor_Oreida_Founder.jpg)
In 1934, entrepreneurs Francis Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg began growing sweet corn in eastern Oregon. Their first company, "Grigg Brothers", became the largest distributor of sweet corn in the United States.[1][5][2] In 1949, with financial backing from their brother-in-law Otis Williams, the brothers rented a frozen food plant located in Ontario and converted it into a potato-processing facility. The three purchased the facility around 1952 after the plant went into foreclosure.[1][5][6] The company was officially founded that year as the "Oregon Frozen Foods Company".[6][7]
The company initially produced and sold frozen corn and French fries.[1][5][8] In 1953, Nephi, Golden, Otis, and Ross developed Tater Tots, bite-sized "logs" formed from seasoned slivers of potatoes, which were leftovers from French fry production.[1][3][9] The name “tater tots” can be attributed to Clora Lay Orton after the brothers created a contest with their friends and employees to create a name for the potato “logs". [10] Tater Tots are today considered the brand's most well known product.[9][2][4]
In 1960, the company built a second plant in Burley, Idaho.[6][11] The company's name is a syllabic abbreviation of the first few letters of Oregon and Idaho and the original logo consisted of the outlines of Oregon and Idaho with Ore-Ida superimposed in italicized letters.[1]
After going public in 1961,[1][12] the Ore-Ida brand was acquired by the H. J. Heinz Company in 1965.[1][11][13] The Heinz company coined Ore-Ida's long-time advertising slogan: “When it says Ore-Ida, it’s All Righta.”[11]
McCain Foods purchased Ore-Ida's foodservice division in 1997, acquiring five of the company's plants, including the Burley location.[2][14][15] Ore-Ida's division headquarters were located in Boise until 1999, when a new frozen foods division was created based at Heinz's corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[14][16]
Sports sponsorship
- Ore-Ida Women's Challenge road cycling race in the 1980s and 1990s.[17][18]
- In 2005 and 2006, Ore-Ida sponsored Brian Vickers' #57 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series.[19][20] In 2007, Ore-Ida/Heinz and Delimex foods (another Heinz brand) sponsored the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford for selected NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events, driven by Jon Wood and Bill Elliott.[21][22][23]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ross Erin Butler Sr. Lukas, Paul (November 1, 2003). "Mr. Potato Head – A Dirt-Poor Farmer Turned Spud Scraps into Gold". CNN Money. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "The Francis Nephi ("Neef") Grigg Papers". University of Utah Library Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2020-01-26. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
- ^ a b c "Ore-Ida Fun Zone – Fun Facts" Archived 2006-06-22 at the Wayback Machine. Ore-Ida.
- ^ a b "How 2 Oregon brothers' efforts to mitigate food waste created the beloved tater tot". opb. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
- ^ a b c "A Brief History of Grigg Brothers" (PDF). Grigg Brothers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ a b c Dick Grigg (December 2011). Family History and Temples Including Grigg and Related Family Genealogies. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 286–. ISBN 978-1-4653-8287-0. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Company Overview of Ore-Ida Foods, Inc". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ McKinney, Kelsey (2017-08-28). "The Tater Tot Is American Ingenuity at Its Finest". Eater. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
- ^ a b Elliott, Stuart (August 25, 2014). "Ore-Ida Campaign Focuses on Authenticity of Tater Tots". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ "The history of tater Tots - Upworthy". www.upworthy.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ^ a b c Evan Morris (9 November 2004). From Altoids to Zima: The Surprising Stories Behind 125 Famous Brand Names. Simon & Schuster. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-0-7432-7647-4. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ "S.E.C. Registrations" (PDF). The New York Times. June 30, 1961. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ "Heinz is Planning Food Acquisition: Directors Approve Plan for Purchase of Ore-Ida" (PDF). The New York Times. May 21, 1965. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ a b "H.J. HEINZ COMPANY ANNUAL REPORT 2000" (PDF). Heinz. 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ McCain Foods (June 30, 1997). "McCain Foods Completes Ore-Ida Food Service Acquisition: New Company Has Strategic Advantages". PR Newswire. Chicago. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ Sabatini (November 11, 1998). "Heinz moves Ore-Ida from Idaho to Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ "Thompson wins Ore-Ida race". Idahonian. (Moscow). Associated Press. July 9, 1990. p. 3B.
- ^ "The toughest women's race in history: Ore Ida". Rouleur. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ^ "Vickers to Drive No. 57 Ore-Ida Chevy in Busch Series". HendrickMotorsports.com. Concord, North Carolina: Hendrick Motorsports. February 8, 2005. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ "Ore-Ida Racing". HendrickMotorsports.com. Hendrick Motorsports. October 26, 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ Long, Dustin (October 4, 2006). "Two will share ride for Wood Brothers". News & Record. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ Ford Racing (October 13, 2007). "Charlotte II: Elliott - Ford Friday interview". motorsport.com. Retrieved 9 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Press Release (June 11, 2007). "Little Debbie Ford Show car stopping by Q-C". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. Retrieved 9 February 2016.