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The H. J. Heinz Company was founded in 1869 by Henry
John Heinz (1844-1919). Along with his partner, L. C. Noble, H. J.
Heinz began to cultivate horseradish on a less than one-acre plot in Sharpsburg,
Pennsylvania. Heinz and Noble, producing their product under the brand
of Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works, expanded their business to include
over 100 acres of land, a work force numbering over 100, and new products
such as pickles, vinegar,
and celery sauce. In 1872, E.J. Noble entered the partnership to become
Heinz, Noble & Company, and the plant moved to Second Avenue in Pittsburgh.
In 1875, when Heinz contracted to buy the products produced by a pickling
and bottling company in Woodstock, Illinois, branch distributing houses
were opened at St. Louis and Chicago. |
The Panic of 1873, however, eventually caused Heinz, Noble &
Company to go bankrupt by 1875. H. J. Heinz began a new business two months
later with help from his brother John and his cousin Frederick. The company
became known as F.& J. Heinz from 1876 until 1888. The year 1876 was
also significant because they introduced tomato
ketchup to the Heinz product lines. Additional products such as apple
butter, pepper sauce, and mince meat were also introduced in
these early years.
| In 1888, H. J. Heinz acquired controlling interest in
the Company from his brother John, thus establishing the H.
J. Heinz Company. The H.J. Heinz Company expanded dramatically in 1890
with the construction of the factory
in Allegheny City along Main Street (later called Progress Street) on the
North Side. |
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| This plant is still in operation and continues to be the central office.
Plants and branch houses were also built in Muscatine, Iowa; Hicksville,
New York; and Holly, Michigan, among others. In order to further promote
the Heinz name, the Heinz Company participated in many World Fairs, including
the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago where the very first pickle pin
was distributed. The H. J. Heinz Company became international when the
London grocery house of Fortnum and Mason contracted to sell Heinz products.
A branch house was established in London, England in 1895 and the first
plant opened in England in 1905. The familiar Heinz
"57 Varieties" trademark was adopted in 1896 when H. J. Heinz was inspired
by an advertisement for "21 Styles" of shoes. Another important milestone
occurred in 1898 with the construction of the Heinz Ocean Pier in Atlantic
City, New Jersey, where Heinz products and objects of art were exhibited.
Advertising continued to play an important role in 1899 with the erection
of the largest electrical sign in the world
promoting Heinz 57 varieties at the corner of 23rd and Broadway in New
York City. Furthermore, beginning in 1899, thousands of visitors were escorted
through the Pittsburgh plant annually as a way of introducing people to
Heinz products. |
The H. J. Heinz Company was officially incorporated
in 1905 (Pennsylvania approved the incorporation in 1900 and the County
Law Department in 1905) with $4 million in stock owned by H. J. Heinz,
his cousin Frederick Heinz, his son Howard, W. H. Robinson, R. G. Evans,
and his brother-in-law Sebastian Mueller. The Company continued
to expand by introducing new products and building more plants at home
and abroad. By 1902 there were seven branch factories in the United States
and 21 salting stations (salting stations were responsible for pickling
cucumbers). An olive factory was built in Seville, Spain, in 1904. Also
in 1904, H. J. Heinz had the original two-story brick building (known as
"The Little House Where We Began") moved by barge from its original site
in Sharpsburg to the plant on the North Side. Heinz stressed the purity
of his food products and went to great lengths to maintain clean
conditions in his factories for employees. Heinz lobbied for the passage
of the Pure Food and Drug Act signed by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
| Heinz practiced a paternalistic
approach to management and employer-employee relations. Heinz had an auditorium,
roof garden, dining rooms, and a library
constructed for the benefit of his employees. Employees received gifts
during the holidays and went on company outings to such places as Rock
Springs, Pennsylvania. |
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H.J. Heinz died
of pneumonia in 1919 at the age of 75, but the H.J. Heinz Company
continued to expand and flourish under his son Howard Heinz (1877-1941).
H.J. Heinz chose his second oldest son Howard over his eldest son Clarence
to succeed him because of Clarence's ill health and lack of interest in
managing the Company. By 1919, the H.J. Heinz Company had over 6,500 employees,
25 branch factories, 85 salting stations, 53 tomato receiving stations,
and 111 pickle receiving stations. Business overseas continued to prosper
in England and elsewhere in Europe. Additions and renovations continued
to be made to the Pittsburgh plant on the North Side. Like his father,
Howard maintained a paternalistic relationship with his employees. Many
of the improvements made to the Pittsburgh plant were for the welfare of
the workers. In 1930, a new auditorium and service building was dedicated
to the Heinz employees by Herbert Hoover in a broadcast from the White
House. The H.J. Heinz Company survived the Great Depression and continued
to build more factories, hire more employees, and undertake ambitious advertising
campaigns. Despite labor problems elsewhere, the first strike at Heinz
did not occur until 1938 when employees struck for higher wages.
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| The H.J. Heinz Company now had 25 factories in four
countries and over 11,000 employees. The successful Heinz line
of condensed soup and strained foods was introduced in the 1930s. Howard
Heinz died in 1941 and was succeeded by his son H.J. "Jack" Heinz II (1909-1987). |
| H.J. Heinz II began working for the Company at age
16. He worked with the Company in a number of capacities until he was named
president after his father's death. H.J. Heinz II was very concerned with
nutrition and public health. The Company became an underwriter for the
Nutrition Foundation to help Americans maintain health standards during
World War II. In 1944, a Nutritional Research Laboratory was established
at Heinz. During the war, Heinz produced canned foods, such as soup and
ham and eggs, for the soldiers. In 1942, in an unusual departure from food
production, the Heinz factory in Pittsburgh began manufacturing
plastic parts for gliders and airplanes to aid in the war effort. Heinz
also distributed a number of products manufactured by other companies,
such as Sun-Maid Raisins, Lake Shore Honey, and Van Houten's Golden Seal
Cocoa. Among the new foods introduced in these years were juices, and dry
spaghetti, noodles, and macaroni. The Company became a public corporation
in 1946 when it entered the New York Stock Exchange. In 1948, H.J. Heinz
II announced that a 15 million dollar building program was scheduled for
the Pittsburgh plant. The building program included a new warehouse, vinegar
building, and research center. The "Little House Where We Began" was disassembled
brick-by-brick and moved from the Heinz plant in Pittsburgh to Greenfield
Village in Dearborn, Michigan in 1954. It was reassembled there and exhibited,
along with Heinz memorabilia, amidst the other historic buildings. |
| By the second half of the 20th century, the H.J.
Heinz Company had become the global corporation we know today. In 1961,
the Company set a record with over 300 million dollars in worldwide sales.
The Company purchased the capital stock of Star-Kist Foods, Inc. in 1963;
Ore-Ida
Foods, Inc. in 1965; and Weight Watchers International, Inc. in 1978.
With the death of H.J. Heinz II in 1987, the Company elected Anthony J.F.
O'Reilly as the first non-family member became president of the Company.
In 1992, a processing plant for soup and baby food was added to the Pittsburgh
plant in a project called "HeinzSite, our vision for the future." The Company
acquired the All American Gourmet Company and Quaker Oats North American
Pet Foods Division in 1995. By 1995, the H.J. Heinz Company's global sales
were over 8 billion dollars with almost half coming from its overseas operations
and seventy percent from non-Heinz brand products. |
