F.L. Maytag III
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Frederick Louis "Fritz" Maytag III (born December 9, 1937, in
Newton, Iowa Newton is the county seat of, and most populous city in, Jasper County, Iowa, United States. Located east of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Newton is in Central Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the city population was 15,760 ...
) is the former owner of
Anchor Brewing Company Anchor Brewing Company was a brewery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1896, the brewery underwent several changes in location and ownership throughout its history. After years of declining sales due to competition with la ...
in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and former chairman of the board of the Maytag Dairy Farms (maker of
Maytag Blue cheese Maytag blue cheese is produced on the Maytag Dairy Farms just outside of Newton, Iowa city limits. History In 1941 production of the cheese was started by Frederick Louis Maytag II and Robert Maytag, grandsons of the founder of the Maytag ap ...
). He is also the owner of York Creek Vineyards in
St. Helena, California St. Helena ( ) is a city in Napa County, California, United States. Located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the population was 5,430 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 report Quick Facts, St. Helena city, Califor ...
. His revival of Anchor Steam beer inspired many other brewers to follow, and he is often considered the father of modern
microbreweries Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...
. Maytag has also been an active trustee of
Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...
, whose campus is close to the headquarters of Maytag Dairy Farms, recruiting among others
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...
's
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
to the Board of Trustees.


Biography

Maytag is the great grandson of
Maytag Corporation The Maytag Corporation is an American home and commercial appliance company. The company has been owned by Whirlpool Corporation since April 2006. History The Maytag Washing Machine Company was founded in 1893 by businessman Frederick Ma ...
founder
Frederick Louis Maytag I Frederick Louis Maytag I (July 14, 1857 – March 26, 1937) also known as F. L. Maytag, founded the Maytag Company, which eventually became the Maytag Corporation and in turn was acquired by the Whirlpool Corporation in 2006. Birth Maytag w ...
and son of Maytag Dairy Farms founder
Frederick Louis Maytag II Frederick Louis Maytag II (January 8, 1911 – November 4, 1962) was President and, later, Chairman of the Maytag company. In the early 1940s, he and Robert E. Maytag (born 1923), both sons of Elmer Henry Maytag, created a cheese plant and stor ...
. He is a graduate of
Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy (often called Deerfield or DA) is an Independent school, independent College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schoo ...
(1955) and attended
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
(1959). In its April 2005 article "26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs", '' Inc.'' magazine named Maytag seventh-most fascinating "for setting limits". Maytag won the 2008 James Beard Foundation's Lifetime Achievement award for his work at Anchor Brewing.


Anchor Brewing Company

Hearing that the Anchor Brewing Company was about to close and looking for a business challenge outside his family's vast appliance concern, Maytag bought the company in 1965 and made enhancing its fortunes his mission. This venture did not initially meet with enthusiasm from his family back in Iowa. The Maytag family fortune grew dramatically over half a century as the family managed a vast international appliance manufacturing and distribution enterprise based in central Iowa. Its backbone was an extensive line of clothes-washing machines. The clothes washer is credited as one of several time-, labor-, and money-saving improvements to home life. It is one of the technologies defining what the rest of the world saw as the admired, relaxed, American lifestyle. In the 1920s, clothes washing was generally done by hand; the Maytag company was on the vanguard of automating this task. The company's highly recognized Lonely Maytag Repairman advertising promoted the brand and explained Maytag's higher price. Company advertising never veered from this central theme. The ad resonated and its message reinforced the brand's most noteworthy competitive advantage. The Lonely Maytag Repairman (created by Chicago Ad Agency Leo Burnett) is recognized as one of advertising's most successful, longest-running and most cost-effective ad campaigns of the last century. With a commitment to quality and the use of more expensive raw materials being keys to the family's success in their Iowa washing machine business, Fritz Maytag was unafraid of Anchor Steam's low volume but higher-end market positioning. The brand had produced characterful local beer, but frequently in the 1950s and into the '60s it became contaminated, turning it sour. To revive the company, in his early years at Anchor, Maytag invested extensively, borrowing heavily to revamp the company and expand capacity. In so doing, he placed at risk a substantial portion of his inheritance, because to procure the loans required, he was required to post Maytag stock as collateral. However, at this time, the late 1960s, a bear market controlled the U.S. equity market. Maytag stock fell, and his lenders required Fritz to post more and more of his inheritance. Meanwhile, he focused on turning around Anchor Brewing's fortunes. He both altered the recipe and the complex brewing process. Over time the beer surged in popularity. The brewery, once located on the upper floors of a building in what is presently San Francisco's Design District, moved, in 1979, to a new location nearby at the base of
Potrero Hill Potrero Hill is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is known for being one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city and having view of the skyline, Sutro Tower, Twin Peaks, and the bay. A working-class neighborhood unt ...
; and, throughout the years, demand continued to climb. Not wanting to sacrifice the small size of the brewery, and, in turn, the quality of the beer, Maytag helped competitors become proficient in microbrewing. This helped to ease the strain on his own company. In 2010, Maytag sold the brewery.


References


External links


Anchor Brewing CompanyMaytag Dairy Farms ''Of grape and grain''
article in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' (January 29, 2004)
26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs, Inc. Magazine, April 20052008 James Beard Foundation Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maytag, Fritz 1937 births American brewers Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Deerfield Academy alumni Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area Living people
Fritz Fritz is a common German language, German male name. The name originated as a German diminutive of Friedrich (given name), Friedrich or Frederick (given name), Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Fred ...
People from Newton, Iowa Stanford University alumni Viticulturists People from St. Helena, California James Beard Foundation Award winners