Quaker Oats Company
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The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:
- The Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio, which held the trademark on the Quaker name;[1]
- A cereal mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa owned by John Stuart, his son Robert Stuart, and their partner George Douglas;
- The German Mills American Oatmeal Company, owned by "The Oatmeal King", Ferdinand Schumacher of Akron, Ohio, of the Quaker Oat Company on [2]
- The Rob Lewis & Co. American Oats and Barley Oatmeal Corporation. Formally known as "Good For Breakfast" instant oatmeal mix.
The company expanded into numerous areas, including other breakfast cereals and other food and drink products, and even into non-related fields such as toys. In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo.
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[edit] Relation to Quakers
Quaker Oats has no connection to the Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers. The company chose its name because Quakers are reputed for honesty in their dealings. The antiquated image used by Quaker Oats looks nothing like a modern Quaker as that form of dress has been abandoned by the religious movement for quite some time.
Many members of the Religious Society of Friends do not approve of the name usage by the company as the company was not founded by Quakers and does not follow the same codes of behavior Quakers follow. They believe the company's use of their name is dishonest behavior and, at best, causes public confusion, even to the point that many people assume they are similar to the Amish in their customs and beliefs.[citation needed]
[edit] Controversy
In the 1950s, researchers from Quaker Oats Company, MIT and Harvard University carried out experiments to determine how the nutrients from cereals travelled through the body. Parents of mentally retarded children were asked for permission to let their children be members of a Science Club at their school. States, such as Massachusetts, also volunteered children who were wards of the state for the program. One well known school that did these experiments was Walter E. Fernald State School. Being a member of the Science Club gave the children special privileges. The parents were told that the children would be fed with a diet high in nutrients. They were not, however, told (and the consent form contained no information indicating) that the food their children were fed was laced with radioactive calcium and iron. The information obtained from the experiments was to be used as part of an advertising campaign. The company was later sued because of the experiments. The lawsuit was settled on December 31, 1997, as chronicled in the book The State Boy's Rebellion by Michael D'Antonio.
[edit] History In Canada
The major Canadian production facility for Quaker Oats is located in Peterborough, Ontario. The factory was first established as the American Cereal Company in 1902 on the shores of the Otonabee River during that city's period of industrialization. In 1916, the factory all but completely burned to the ground. When the smoke had settled, 23 people had died and Quaker was left with $2,000,000 in damages. Quaker went on to rebuild the facility incorporating the few areas of the structure that were not destroyed by fire, creating what is today still the most visibly recognizable industrial facility in Peterborough. When PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oats in 2001, many brands were consolidated from facilities around Canada to the Peterborough location - which assumed the new QTG moniker (Quaker Tropicana Gatorade). Local production includes Quaker Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy bars, Cap'n Crunch cereal, Aunt Jemima instant pancake mixes and pancake syrups, Quaker Oat Bran and Corn Bran cereals, Gatorade sportdrinks and the Propel fitness water sub-brand, Tropicana juices, and various Frito-Lay snack products. Products are easily identified by the manufactured by address on the packaging. The Peterborough facility exports to the majority of Canada and limited portions of the United States. The Quaker plant sells cereal production byproducts to innovative companies that use them to create fire logs and pellets.
[edit] Modern history
In 1969, Quaker acquired Fisher-Price, a toy company and spun it off in 1991.
In the 1970s, the company financed the making of the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, obtaining in return a license to use a number of the product names mentioned in the movie for candy bars.
In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo, who primarily wanted the company for its Gatorade brand of sports drink. The merger created the fourth-largest consumer goods company in the world. Though the main prize of PepsiCo was Gatorade noncarbonated sports drink, Quaker's cereal and snack food division serves as healthy complements to the existing Frito-Lay salty-snacks division.
There is a common misconception that the smiling Quaker found on boxes of Quaker Oats is William Penn. According to the Quaker Oats Company, the image is that of John C. Burns, a part-time actor and Chicago radio host, who died on July 24, 2003 of a heart attack in Orland Park, IL at age 84. The iconic image of the smiling Quaker was painted by Haddon Sundblom in 1957.
Since the late 1980s, actor Wilford Brimley has appeared in television commercials extolling the virtues of oat consumption, typically to a young child, as to introduce the concept of oatmeal consumption as a long tradition.
[edit] Trivia
- The monochromatic 1971 Quaker Oats Company Logo was created by Saul Bass, a graphic designer known for his motion picture title sequences and corporate logos.
[edit] US Brands
As of 2005, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the USA:
[edit] Breakfast cereals
- Cap'n Crunch
- Life cereal
- Quisp
- Mother's Natural Foods
- Quaker 100% Natural Granola
- Kretschmer Wheat Germ
- Muffets ("The round shredded wheat") (Discontinued)
- Quaker Toasted Oatmeal
- Quaker Oh's
- King Vitaman
- Sugar Puffs
[edit] Other breakfast foods
- Quaker Oatmeal Squares
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Quaker Oatmeal To Go (re-branded from Breakfast Squares in 2006)
- Quaker Grits
- Aunt Jemima
- Quaker Breakfast Cookies
[edit] Snacks
- Quaker Rice Cakes (known as Snack-a-Jacks in the UK)
- Quakes Rice Snacks
- Quaker Soy Crisps
- Quaker Snack Bars
- Chewy Granola Bars
[edit] Mixes
- Quaker Tortilla Mix
- Rice-A-Roni
- Pasta Roni
- Near East
[edit] Drinks
- Milk Chillers
[edit] UK Brands
As of 2006, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the UK[3]:
[edit] Hot Cereals
- Quaker Oats
- Oatso Simple (various flavours)
- Scott's Porage Oats
- Scott's So Easy
(the Scott's brand, previously a rival, is now also owned by Quaker)
[edit] Ready to Eat Cereal
- Sugar Puffs - Since sold off
- Harvest Crunch
[edit] Cereal Bars
- Oat Bars (Original with golden syrup or Mixed berry flavours)
[edit] Chewee Bars
- Toffee
- Milk Choc Chip
- White Choc Chip
[edit] References
- ^ Adams, Cecil. The Straight Dope Accessed 28 July 2006.
- ^ the company website (www.quakeroats.com). Accessed 28 July 2006.
- ^ Official UK web site Accessed 10 August 2006
- D'Antonio, Michael. The State Boys Rebellion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
