Borden (company)

Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in Columbus, Ohio, and focused primarily on pasta and pasta sauces, bakery products, snacks, processed cheese, jams and jellies, and ice cream. It was best known for its Borden Ice Cream, Meadow Gold milk, Creamette pasta, and Borden Condensed Milk brands. Its consumer products and industrial segment marketed wallpaper, adhesives, plastics and resins. By 1993, sales of food products accounted for 67 percent of its revenue. It was also known for its Elmer's and Krazy Glue brands.

After significant financial losses in the early 1990s and a leveraged buyout by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) in 1995, Borden divested itself of its various divisions, brands and businesses. KKR shut Borden's food products operations in 2001 and divested all its other Borden operations in 2005. Borden dairy brands are currently used by Borden Dairy for milk and by Dairy Farmers of America for cheese.

The company was founded by Gail Borden Jr., in 1857 in Connecticut as "Gail Borden Jr., and Company." Its primary product was condensed milk. Struggling financially, the company was saved when Jeremiah Milbank, a partner in the wholesale food distributor I. & R. Milbank & Co. and the son-in-law of banker Joseph Lake, agreed to invest and acquired 50 percent of the stock. The company changed its name in 1858 to the New York Condensed Milk Company. The company prospered during the Civil War by selling condensed milk to Union armies.

Borden began selling processed milk to consumers in 1875 and pioneered the use of glass milk bottles in 1885. Borden began selling evaporated milk in 1892, and expanded into Canada in 1895.

The company changed its name to "Borden's Condensed Milk Company" in 1899. It suffered a legal setback in 1912, when a federal appellate court held that the Borden Ice Cream Co. (a competitor whose ownership included one "Charles Borden") could sell ice cream under the Borden name because Borden's Condensed Milk sold only milk, not ice cream, but the limit on its products was short-lived. It became the Borden Company in 1919 and expanded rapidly, buying numerous dairies, ice cream manufacturers, cheese producers, and mincemeat processors. Taking advantage of its many herds of cattle, the company became involved in rendering and the manufacture of adhesives. In World War II, Borden pioneered the American manufacture of non-dairy creamer, instant coffee and powdered foods.

In 1929, Borden was reorganized as a holding company for four separate entities: Borden's Food Products Company, Inc., Borden's Dairy Products Company, Inc., Borden's Ice Cream and Milk Company, Inc., and Borden's Cheese & Produce Company, Inc. However, in 1936 its operations were reunified, and these subsidiaries became divisions.

Borden's fictitious spokesperson, Jane Ellison, was introduced in 1929. The recipe for "Magic Lemon Cream Pie", the ancestor of the Key lime pie, is attributed to her, found in a Borden promotional brochure from 1931.

Borden and other dairy companies were investigated in 1938 for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, but the charges were dropped after Borden signed a consent decree in 1940.