Ore-Ida (; ) is a brand of

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

-based

frozen food Freezing food Food preservation, preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farmers, fishermen, and trappers have preserved grains and produce in unheated buildings during the winter season. Freezing foo ...

s owned by

Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz (), is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and the H.J. Heinz Company co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is t ...

's,

H.J. Heinz Company The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 186 ...

Brands LLC. based in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Ore-Ida's primary production facility is located in

Ontario, Oregon Ontario is the largest city in Malheur County, Oregon, Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along the Snake River at the Idaho border. The population was 11,645 at the 2020 censusThe city is the largest community in the region of far ea ...

, near the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

border where the company was originally founded in 1949."Ore-Ida Fun Zone Fun Facts"
. Ore-Ida.

History

Nephi Grigg Tater Tots Inventor Oreida Founder

In 1934, entrepreneurs Francis Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg began growing

sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring rec ...

in eastern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Their first company, "Grigg Brothers", became the largest distributor of sweet corn in the United States. In 1949, with financial backing from their brother-in-law Otis Williams, the brothers rented a frozen food plant located in Ontario and converted it into a potato-processing facility. The three purchased the facility around 1952 after the plant went into foreclosure. The company was officially founded that year as the "Oregon Frozen Foods Company". The company initially produced and sold frozen corn and

French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

. In 1953, Nephi, Golden, Otis, and Ross developed

Tater Tots Tater tots are grated potato formed into small cylinders and deep-fried, often served as a side dish. "Tater" is a dialect form of the word ''potato''. The name "tater tot" is a registered trademark of the American frozen food company Ore-Ida, b ...

, bite-sized "logs" formed from seasoned slivers of potatoes, which were leftovers from French fry production. The name “tater tots” can be attributed to Clora Lay Orton after the brothers created a contest with their friends and employees to create a name for the potato “logs". Tater Tots are today considered the brand's most well known product. In 1960, the company built a second plant in

Burley, Idaho Burley () is a city in Cassia County, Idaho, Cassia and Minidoka County, Idaho, Minidoka counties in southern Idaho, United States. The population was 11,704 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 10,345 in 2010 United States cen ...

. The company's name is a

syllabic abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

of the first few letters of

and

and the original logo consisted of the outlines of Oregon and Idaho with ''Ore-Ida'' superimposed in italicized letters. After going public in 1961, the Ore-Ida brand was acquired by the H. J. Heinz Company in 1965. The Heinz company coined Ore-Ida's long-time advertising slogan: “When it says Ore-Ida, it’s All Righta.”

McCain Foods McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a ...

purchased Ore-Ida's

foodservice The foodservice (US English) or catering (British and Commonwealth English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafet ...

division in 1997, acquiring five of the company's plants, including the Burley location. Ore-Ida's division headquarters were located in

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

until 1999, when a new frozen foods division was created based at Heinz's corporate headquarters in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. In 2022, Boise-based J.R. Simplot Company acquired the Ontario facility; Kraft Heinz retains ownership of the Ore-Ida brand, which is now produced by Simplot under a long-term agreement.

Sports sponsorship

* Ore-Ida

Women's Challenge The Women's Challenge bicycle race (originally known as the Ore-Ida Women's Challenge as the lead sponsor was the Ore-Ida brand of frozen potato products) was held annually in the western United States in southern Idaho, beginning in 1984 until i ...

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. * In 2005 and 2006, Ore-Ida sponsored

Brian Vickers Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American former professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the i ...

' #57 Chevrolet in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

. In 2007, Ore-Ida/Heinz and Delimex foods (another Heinz brand) sponsored the #21

Wood Brothers Racing Wood Brothers Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was formed in 1950 by brothers Ray Lee, Clay, Delano, Glen Wood, Glen, and Leonard Wood (racing), Leonard Wood. To ...

Ford for selected NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events, driven by Jon Wood and

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...

. * In 2025, Ore-Ida entered into an NIL deal with

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the Big 12 C ...

men’s basketball star Richie Saunders, whose great-grandfather, Francis Nephi Grigg, co-founded the company. Ore-Ida would refer to itself as “Ore-Richie” for the duration of Saunders’ and BYU’s stay in the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

References

External links

* {{Heinz Heinz brands Food manufacturers of the United States Frozen food brands Ontario, Oregon Food and drink companies established in 1952 1952 establishments in Oregon Companies based in Pittsburgh Food and drink in Idaho

History

Sports sponsorship

See also

References

External links