Pinnacle Foods

Our History

Pinnacle is a company that makes and delivers trusted brands that have made people happy for more than 150 years. The admirable stories of the creators and families behind each brand inspire us to nurture, grow and continuously improve our products, providing our consumers with delicious quality brands they can rely on, each and every day. Here’s how our great brands got their start.

The 1800s

After walking across the country in 1852 during the California Gold Rush, Philip Danford Armour saved enough money to form Armour and Company in 1867. As the first company to produce canned meat, Armour, became Chicago's most important business and helped make the city and its stockyards the center of the American meatpacking industry.  Today, Armour Star® products offers a variety of delicious products that are the perfect choice to enjoy on the run.

Two decades later, Minnesota grocer Patrick J. Towle introduced Log Cabin® syrup in 1887. The syrup was named for President Lincoln’s boyhood home.  Today Log Cabin syrups are available in original, light, sugar-free and all-natural - all with no High Fructose Corn Syrup.

What goes better with maple syrup than pancakes?  Faced with a surplus amount of flour, the Pearl Milling Company created Aunt Jemima pancake mix in 1889 – America’s first ready pancake mix. Today, Aunt Jemima® Frozen Breakfast selections are a favorite for families who want wholesome warmth and goodness that is easy to make.

Early to mid 1900s

In 1915 Theodore J. Van de Kamp and his family opened a small Los Angeles potato-chip stand that soon expanded to a chain of restaurants featuring baked goods and their trademark batter-fried halibut.  The small business soon changed its focus to producing frozen foods, specializing in the Van de Kamp’s® seafood America loves today.
 
Across the country in a small Pennsylvania town, another family started a legendary business from potato chips. The Snyder family started cooking kettle chips in their home kitchen in Hanover, Pennsylvania in the 1920s, marking the introduction of the Snyder of Berlin® brand.
 
Innovator Clarence Birdseye, invented the “Quick Freeze Machine” in 1926, based on the principles of flash freezing he learned while traveling through the Arctic.  Originally put to use on fish, it soon revolutionized the way Americans enjoyed fresh vegetables with the introduction of the Birds Eye® frozen vegetable brand.
 
Breakfast foods continued to evolve as Harry Lender founded Lender’s Bagels in New Haven, Connecticut in 1927.  What started as a 6-person family business grew into a national success story when Lender’s® introduced frozen bagels. Lender’s became the first packaged bagels sold in supermarkets, introducing the round doughy “Jewish English Muffin” to a vast new audience.
 
“Mama Celeste” Lizio, an immigrant from Southern Italy, first began making pizzas in her Chicago pizzeria in the 1930s.  Her pies were so popular she soon closed the restaurant to begin selling pizzas and pizza ingredients directly to pizzerias. Today, Celeste® Pizzas continue to provide pizzeria-fresh taste at an affordable price.
 
Joe Vlasic began production of the first glass-packed, shelf-stable pickles in 1942. Over the next 20 years, Joe and his son Bob grew Vlasic® Pickles into the number one pickle in America, a position we still hold today.  
 
Duncan Hines, already a well-known food author and restaurant critic, put his name to a line of cake mixes and other packaged foods in 1948.  Today, Duncan Hines® products are one of America’s leading brands of cake mixes, ready-to-serve frostings, and other baking mixes, including the #1 selling cake mix in the country, Classic Yellow Moist Deluxe Cake Mix.

Mid 1900s

In 1953, Open Pit® Barbecue Sauce was created in Detroit as a classic tangy BBQ sauce to liven up family meals. Over the past few decades, Open Pit has expanded throughout the Midwest and become a family favorite for backyard BBQs.
 

Mrs. Butterworth’s® syrup launched in 1961 to a national audience in the distinctive motherly-shaped bottle American kids have grown up with for generations.  The talking Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle was named one of the most beloved American spokescreatures by Forbes, and her syrup is a family favorite, known for its distinct thick, rich, buttery taste.

1970s-Present

Hungry-Man® Frozen Dinners were introduced in 1973, with larger, heartier portion sizes specifically targeted toward the hungry male consumer.

In 1986 Tim Kennedy and his family began Tim’s® Cascade Style Potato Chips in a 15,000 square foot facility in Auburn, Washington. The brand was named “the best potato chip in Seattle” two short years later. 

Birds Eye Voila!® was introduced in 1998, creating an entirely new bagged meal option in the frozen food aisle. The many varieties of meals in a bag allows consumers to serve a complete home cooked meal in minutes.