Wyandot Snacks is a privately held and family owned American contract manufacturer of snacks and other packaged foods, headquartered in Marion,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, a part of the

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

Combined statistical area. primarily as a contract manufacturer for domestic and international branded snack businesses, but also for foodservice customers. The company's main product lines are extruded snacks, corn & tortilla chips, and ready to eat (RTE) popcorn. Wyandot's focuses on the creation of plant-based snack products made from ancient grains such as

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

and

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechuan languages, Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the Amaranthaceae, amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are high in prote ...

, pulses such as

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual plant, annual legume of the family (biology), family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, ga ...

s, and

flaxseed Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of the ...

, among others.

History

Wyandot Popcorn Company was founded in

Wyandot County, Ohio Wyandot County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,900. Its county seat is Upper Sandusky. It was named for the Wyandot Indians, who lived here before and aft ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

by Hoover and Ava (King) Brown. Mrs. Brown was the daughter of George W. King, one of the founders of the

Marion Power Shovel Company Marion Power Shovel Company was an American firm that designed, manufactured and sold steam shovels, power shovels, blast hole drills, excavators, and dragline excavators for use in the construction and mining industries. The company was a majo ...

. In 1936, as a way to diversify their family's farming income from grains and livestock, the Browns planted their first 100 acres of popcorn and entered the business of growing and selling raw popcorn. Popcorn became a popular treat in America at the time given its affordability. In 1948 a subsidiary, Popped-Right Corn Company, was established initially to sell ready-to-eat (RTE) popcorn to movie theatres. Popped-Right, in conjunction with local Marion candy company Shirk's, created one of the first formulas of caramel popcorn for broad commercialization. In 1964 both Wyandot Popcorn and Popped-Right consolidated their office operations into a new facility in

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in Marion County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down slig ...

while maintaining the raw popcorn processing on the farm in Wyandot County. Also in the 1960s Popped-Right, under the direction of son Warren Brown, diversified into corn-based snacks to supply regional

potato chip Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

marketers who were seeking to compete against a growing

Frito Lay Frito-Lay, Inc. (; ) is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and sells snack foods. It began in the early 1930s as two companies, the Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company, that merged in 1961. Frito-Lay itself merged with the ...

. The raw popcorn business, led by son George Brown, continued to grow as well, to the point where Wyandot was selling 50 million pounds of popcorn and selling it to over 75 countries, representing nearly a quarter of the global trade in raw popcorn. By the 1980s Wyandot was the second largest processor of popcorn in the United States. Both businesses were consolidated in 1981 under Wyandot, Inc. In 1981 Wyandot purchased a second snack manufacturing location in

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...

. In 1989 Wyandot sold its raw popcorn operation to Vogel Popcorn, who subsequently sold the business to

ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

. With an increased focus on contract manufacturing versus private label business and business with regional potato chip companies, Wyandot sold the Jeffersonville plant in 2004. In the first decade of the 2000s Wyandot manufactured

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

for Frito Lay, as well as ''Pringles Select'' chips for

Pringles Pringles is an American brand of stackable potato-based chips invented by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1968 and marketed as "Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips". It is technically considered an Extruded food, extruded snack because of the manufac ...

when that brand was owned by P&G. In March 2018 Wyandot elected three snack industry veterans to its board of directors: James Kairos, formerly of Bare Snacks, Sundia and Odwalla; Blake Thompson, former SVP and operations/logistic leader for Snyder's-Lance and

, and Steve Van Tassel, former CEO of

Weetabix Weetabix is a breakfast cereal produced by Weetabix Limited in the United Kingdom. It comes in the form of palm-sized (approx. 9.5 cm × 5.0 cm or 4" × 2") wheat Biscuit#Variations in meaning of biscuit, biscuits. Variants include Org ...

, North America and former President of

Post Cereals Post Consumer Brands, LLC (previously Post Cereals and Postum Cereals; also known simply as Post) is an American consumer packaged goods food manufacturer headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota. The company, founded in 1895 by C. W. Post, own ...

. In 2021 Jolie Weber, CEO of Lenny & Larry's and former CEO of Wise Foods, joined the company's Board. Wyandot was certified as a B Corporation in January 2020. Wyandot is one of the largest food & beverage contract manufacturers in the world to achieve this certification.

Products and manufacturing capabilities

Products made from single and twin screw extrusion capabilities include curls and puffs made singly or in combinations of corn, rice, pulses (like chickpeas, beans, peas), made from fruits and other vegetables, fortified with vitamins and minerals, and made with ancient grains. RTE popcorn is made both air and kettle popped. Corn based snacks include corn chips, tortilla chips, and tortilla strips. Wyandot once utilized a former P&G craft chip line to manufacture specialty chips made from chickpeas and combinations of various vegetable components.

References

{{reflist Certified B Corporations in the Food & Beverage Industry Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area Food and drink companies established in 1936 Food and drink companies of the United States Food manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Manufacturing companies established in 1936 Marion, Ohio Privately held companies based in Ohio Privately held companies of the United States Snack food manufacturers of the United States 1936 establishments in Ohio