Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products,

consumer products A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but t ...

, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...

products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in Columbus, Ohio, and focused primarily on pasta and pasta sauces,

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

products,

snacks A snack is a small portion of food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snack ...

processed cheese Processed cheese (also known as process cheese, cheese food, prepared cheese, cheese product, or plastic cheese) is a food product made from cheese and unfermented dairy ingredients mixed with emulsifiers. Additional ingredients, such as vegeta ...

jams and jellies Jams or JAMS may refer to: *Plural form of jam, a type of fruit preserve * Jams (clothing line) *JAMS (organization), United States organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services *The JAMs, former name of The KLF, a British ba ...

, and

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

. It was best known for its Borden Ice Cream, Meadow Gold milk, Creamette pasta, and Borden Condensed Milk brands. Its consumer products and industrial segment marketed

wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so ...

adhesives Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

, plastics and

resins In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

. By 1993, sales of food products accounted for 67 percent of its revenue. It was also known for its Elmer's and Krazy Glue brands. After significant financial losses in the early 1990s and a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

(KKR) in 1995, Borden divested itself of its various divisions, brands and businesses. KKR shut Borden's food products operations in 2001 and divested all its other Borden operations in 2005. Borden dairy brands are currently used by Borden Dairy for milk and by Dairy Farmers of America for cheese.

History

Founding

The company was founded by Gail Borden Jr., in 1857 in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

as "Gail Borden Jr., and Company." Its primary product was condensed milk. Struggling financially, the company was saved when

Jeremiah Milbank Jeremiah Milbank (April 18, 1818 – June 1, 1884) American businessman, was a successful dry goods commission merchant, speculator in Texas territorial bonds, manufacturer, and railroad investor. His most successful business efforts were the New Y ...

, a partner in the wholesale food distributor I. & R. Milbank & Co. and the son-in-law of banker Joseph Lake, agreed to invest and acquired 50 percent of the stock. The company changed its name in 1858 to the New York Condensed Milk Company. The company prospered during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

by selling condensed milk to Union armies. Borden began selling processed milk to consumers in 1875 and pioneered the use of glass milk bottles in 1885.''International Directory of Company Histories,'' Vol. 22, 1998. Borden began selling evaporated milk in 1892, and expanded into Canada in 1895.

Growth

The company changed its name to "Borden's Condensed Milk Company" in 1899. It suffered a legal setback in 1912, when a federal appellate court held that the Borden Ice Cream Co. (a competitor whose ownership included one "Charles Borden") could sell ice cream under the Borden name because Borden's Condensed Milk sold only milk, not ice cream, but the limit on its products was short-lived. It became the Borden Company in 1919 and expanded rapidly, buying numerous dairies, ice cream manufacturers, cheese producers, and

mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and often beef suet, usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Mincemeat formerly contained meat, notably beef or venison. Many modern recipes replace the suet with v ...

processors. Taking advantage of its many herds of cattle, the company became involved in rendering and the manufacture of adhesives. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Borden pioneered the American manufacture of

non-dairy creamer A non-dairy creamer, commonly also called tea whitener or coffee whitener or else just creamer, is a liquid or granular product intended to substitute for milk or cream as an additive to coffee, tea, hot chocolate or other beverages. They do not c ...

instant coffee Instant coffee is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to coffee solids in powdered or crystallized form and stirring. Instant coffee solids (also called sol ...

and powdered foods. Borden became a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

in 1929, but its operations were reunified in 1936 and its subsidiaries became divisions. Borden and other dairy companies were investigated in 1938 for violations of the

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. ...

, but the charges were dropped after Borden signed a consent decree in 1940. Borden's fictitious spokesperson,

Jane Ellison Jane Elizabeth Ellison (born 15 August 1964) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Battersea. On 7 May 2015, she was re-elected with an increased margin o ...

, was introduced in 1929. Borden milk products in Canada began with condensed milk in Quebec and East Coast with headquarters in Montreal. Borden's Canadian operational head office moved to Toronto in 1931 when it acquired City Dairy. The old City Dairy Stables on Spadina Crescent was renamed Borden Stables and now part of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. Borden's Canadian operations slowly disappeared with Quebec operations to

Agropur The Agropur Dairy Cooperative, usually shortened to Agropur, is headquartered in Saint-Hubert, Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. Agropur Cooperative is a North American dairy cooperative founded in 1938. It is a supplier of products for the industri ...

in 1976 and Ontario operations to

Silverwood Dairy Silverwood Dairy was a London, Ontario, Canada, dairy company that operated in the early 20th century and was later acquired as a brand name by Ault Foods. History Founding owner and early years Silverwood Dairy was founded by Albert Edward Sil ...

in 1980. In the 1950s, Borden moved into the

printing ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics business. By 1961, it was making 7 percent of all raw PVC in the United States. By 1968, Borden's international chemical and petroleum divisions had grown so large that Borden created the Borden Inc. International division to manage them. The company owned the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

company

Cocio Cocio is a chocolate milk drink produced in Esbjerg, Denmark. It is moderately popular in the rest of Scandinavia and, to a lesser extent in some US regions, namely New England. It is also available in the Philippines, Spain, the UK, the Netherl ...

from 1976 to 1999. In 1987, Borden spun off some of its chemicals business in a public offering. Borden retained a small financial investment in the new company, known legally as Borden Chemicals & Plastics Operating Limited Partnership (BCPOLP)

Borden Food

The food products division was spun off as Borden Food Corporation when Borden, Inc. became a holding company in 1929. The holding company reversed itself 13 years later when it reacquired its child company. In the 1950s, the parent company went on a buying spree, swallowing up companies such as Wyler's, which made bouillon and powdered soft drinks; ReaLemon, a manufacturer of synthetic and reconstituted lemon juice;

Cracker Jack Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn, and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat The ...

(sold to

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-fla ...

in 1997); Campfire brand marshmallows;

Wise Foods Wise Foods, Inc. is a company based in Berwick, Pennsylvania, that makes snacks and sells them through retail food outlets in 15 eastern seaboard states, as well as Vermont, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. Best ...

, a maker of potato chips and other snack foods; and Bama, makers of jellies and jams. Although Borden retrenched in the inflationary 1970s, it embarked on a second wave of mergers and acquisitions in the 1980s. It purchased Guys Snack Foods in 1979. It also purchased the Prince pasta manufacturing concern (giving Borden 30 percent of the domestic pasta market). In 1986, it purchased the dairy products division of

Beatrice Foods Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company founded in 1894. In 1987, its international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney, creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of ...

, including the Meadow Gold brand. Stockholders blamed the company's decline on mismanagement, the incurrence of excessive debt to finance its numerous acquisitions, and several recent restructurings.

Demise

The Ladies' home journal (1948) (14744373566)

Borden suffered significant losses for the period 1991–1993. A 1991 restructuring failed to integrate the company's brands and marketing efforts. When whole milk prices dropped in 1992, Borden Food did not lower its prices—causing a significant drop in market share from which it was not able to recover. Borden divested itself of nearly a third of its businesses in 1993 but could not find a buyer for its snack food concerns. In deep financial difficulty, Borden was bought out by

(KKR) in 1995. KKR increased the pace of divestiture but was unable to right the company. The company's Borden/Meadow Gold Dairies subsidiary was sold in September 1997 to Southern Foods, controlled by the Mid-America Dairymen (later the Dairy Farmers of America). Borden licensed the use of

Elsie the Cow Elsie the Cow is a cartoon cow developed as a mascot for the Borden Dairy Company in 1936 to symbolize the "perfect dairy product". Since the demise of Borden in the mid-1990s, the character has continued to be used in the same capacity for the ...

but retained ownership of the trademark.Jensen, "Crackerjack Plan? Borden to Sell Some Food Brands," ''Wall Street Journal,'' March 21, 1997. Southern Foods was acquired by Suiza Foods (now

Dean Foods Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company maintained plants and distributors in the United States. Dean Foods had 66 manufacturing faciliti ...

). The dairies are now owned by Dean Foods and Borden Dairy. Dairy Farmers of America retains Borden cheese. In 1997, KKR focused the company solely on its pasta and pasta sauces lines. But the new strategy failed as well. In June 2001, Borden Food sold several pasta lines to the American Italian Pasta Company and its pasta sauce and soup businesses (including Wyler's) to the

H. J. Heinz Company The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

. In July 2001, Borden Foods sold its remaining pasta lines to the

New World Pasta The New World Pasta Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ebro Foods, was a retail branded pasta manufacturer in North America. New World Pasta headquarters was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The company was formed in 1999 when the Hershey Compa ...

.Buchanan, "Borden Foods Turns Out the Lights, Sells Final Holding," ''Business First of Columbus,'' August 27, 2001. Bordens1

Borden, Inc., sold its final food product line, It's Pasta Anytime, to

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...

in 2001 and shuttered its Foods division. With the chemicals business the sole remaining operating company, in 2001 KKR merged Borden, Inc. into Borden Chemical, Inc., with the resulting company named Borden Chemical to emphasize the fact that chemicals were the company's sole remaining product line. In 2004, KKR sold Borden Chemical to Apollo Management, a private equity firm. Borden Chemical was merged with Resolution Performance Products, Resolution Specialty Materials, and the German firm Bakelite AG to form Hexion Specialty Chemicals. With the merger (which settled in 2005), the last vestige of Borden, Inc. ceased to exist except as spin-offs and brand names. Hexion retained control over the Elsie the Cow trademarks and Borden name until Dec 2014 and has now assigned all Borden/Elsie trademarks in the U.S. to Grupo Lala of Durango, Mexico. Borden once operated a chain of ice cream stores called Borden's Ice Cream, but only a single location in Lafayette, Louisiana, remains, under local ownership.

Legacy

Several firms continue to use the name Borden and Elsie the Cow: * Borden Dairy is a dairy distributor in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. * J.M. Smucker has used the name and Elsie for its

Eagle Brand Eagle Family Foods Group LLC, is an American food manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company was established in 2015 by Paul Smucker Wagstaff after acquiring ownership of the Borden canned milk brands (Eagle Brand, Magnolia, Milnot, PET) ...

condensed milk products since 2007 (not used in Canada). The Borden Buildings (North Building 563 Spadina Crescent and South Building 487 Spadina Crescent) in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

were once home to Borden Canadian dairy operations (founded in 1900 by Walt Massey as City Dairy) and are now used by the

Former brands

* Anthony's pasta * Bama jam and jelly * Bennetts sauces * Borden cheese * Borden

egg nog Eggnog (), historically also known as a milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added, is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage. It is traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and whipped egg whi ...

* Campfire

marshmallows Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar ...

* Classico pasta sauce *

* Creamette pasta * Cremora creamer *

Drake's Cakes Drake's is a brand of American baked goods. The company was founded by Newman E. Drake in 1896 in Harlem, New York, as The N.E. Drake Baking Company, but it is now owned by McKee Foods. The company makes snack cake products such as Devil Dogs, ...

Eagle Family Foods Eagle Family Foods Group LLC, is an American food manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company was established in 2015 by Paul Smucker Wagstaff after acquiring ownership of the Borden canned milk brands (Eagle Brand, Magnolia, Milnot, PET) ...

* Elmer's glue * Elsie Stix, construction toy using ice-cream sticks * It's Pasta Anytime! convenience meals * Kava coffee * Klim *

Krylon Sherwin-Williams Company is an American Cleveland, Ohio–based company in the paint and coating manufacturing industry. The company primarily engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related p ...

spray paint * Luxury pasta * Meadow Gold milk * Mystik Tape Corporation * Mrs. Grass pasta and soup * None Such

* Pennsylvania Dutch pasta * Prince pasta * R&F pasta * ReaLemon juice * Ronco pasta * Snow's

chowder Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically ...

* Starlac powdered milk * Vimco Macaroni * Wise snacks * Wyler's soup and soft drinks

References

Sources

*"Apollo Buys Borden Chemical for $649 Million." ''New York Times.'' July 7, 2004. *Buchanan, Doug. "Borden Foods Turns Out the Lights, Sells Final Holding." ''Business First of Columbus.'' August 27, 2001. *''International Directory of Company Histories.'' Vol. 22. Farmington Hills, Mich.: St. James Press, 1998. *Jensen, Elizabeth. "Crackerjack Plan? Borden to Sell Some Food Brands." ''Wall Street Journal.'' March 21, 1997.

External links

Borden Document Archives website

Hexion Speciality Chemicals website
{{Authority control Food manufacturers of the United States Defunct consumer brands Defunct companies based in Ohio Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area American companies established in 1857 Food and drink companies established in 1857 American companies disestablished in 2005 1857 establishments in Connecticut 2005 disestablishments in Ohio Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Borden (company) Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies American pasta companies Condiment companies of the United States Food and drink companies disestablished in 2005