The C.F. Sauer Company is a cooking products business that makes

extract An extract (essence) is a substance made by extracting a part of a raw material, often by using a solvent such as ethanol, oil or water. Extracts may be sold as tinctures or absolutes or dried and powdered. The aromatic principles of ma ...

s and other food products. It was founded in 1887 by Conrad Frederick Sauer in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, where it maintains its headquarters.

History

The C.F. Sauer Company was founded on October 13, 1887. In 1929, Sauer purchased Duke's Products Company and thus entered the

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

industry. The recipe for

Duke's Mayonnaise Duke's Mayonnaise is a condiment created by Eugenia Duke in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1917. Duke's Mayonnaise is the third-largest mayonnaise brand in the United States (behind Hellmann's and Kraft), however its popularity was at first la ...

has not been altered since it went into production in 1917. In the 1950s and 1960s, C.F. Sauer Co. introduced Gold Medal spices and purchased Dean Foods (a margarine company). In recent decades, the company also purchased BAMA brand mayonnaise and Spice Hunter brand exotic spices. It was the first spice company to use

plastic container Plastic containers are containers made exclusively or partially of plastic. Plastic containers are ubiquitous either as single-use or reuseable/durable plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, Tupperware, plastic tu ...

s. Their

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

facility is located in

Mauldin, South Carolina Mauldin is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 24,724 at the 2020 census, making it the 19th-most populous city in South Carolina. It is located in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metropolitan Stati ...

(southeast of Greenville). In 1967, the company acquired Alford's Barbecue sauce, a cider vinegar-based sauce, and rebranded it as Sauer's Barbecue Sauce. They acquired Pleasants Hardware in 1989. However, on December 28, 2015, the C.F. Sauer company informed the employees of Pleasants Hardware that they were no longer interested in owning hardware stores. C.F. Sauer then sold a number of Pleasants' smaller stores to a Do it Best group in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

and gave the remaining 100+ employees in the flagship store sixty days' notice (required by law according to the

WARN Act The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the "WARN Act") is a United States labor law, U.S. labor law that protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provi ...

) that they would soon be unemployed. On February 27, 2016, the original Pleasants Hardware closed. In 2011, C.F. Sauer Co. sold its Dean Foods division to a subsidiary of

Bunge Limited Bunge Global SA (''BUN-ghee'') is a global agribusiness and food company, incorporated in Geneva, Switzerland and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. As well as being an international soybean exporter, it is also involved in f ...

. After 132 years of private ownership, The C.F. Sauer Company was acquired in 2019 by Falfurrias Capital Partners of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Headquarters and sign

The present company headquarters building and main factory was opened in 1911 on West Broad Street (at its intersection with Hermitage Road) in Richmond, Virginia, helping to spur development in that area of the city. In 2011, it was listed as a contributing structure to the West Broad Street Industrial and Commercial Historic District, on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Adjacent to the main headquarters building is a large advertising sign dating to the early 20th century, illuminated and animated with

incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, also known as an incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe, is an electric light that produces illumination by Joule heating a #Filament, filament until it incandescence, glows. The filament is enclosed in a ...

s, for Sauer's vanilla extract. In the 1960s, the sign was relocated to 2018 West Broad Street from an adjacent building demolished for road expansion. It is itself listed a

contributing object In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

to the historic district.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Richmond, Virginia 1887 establishments in Virginia American companies established in 1887 Food and drink companies established in 1887 Condiment companies of the United States