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American frozen food brand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ore-Ida (/ɔːrˈaɪdə/) is an American brand of potato-based frozen foods currently produced and distributed by Kraft Heinz's, H.J. Heinz Company Brands LLC. based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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A trailer advertising the Ore-Ida brand, showing the outlines of Oregon and Idaho | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail, food |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Founders | Ross Erin Butler Sr. Francis Nephi Grigg Golden Grigg[1][2][3] |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Parent | Kraft Heinz |
| Website | Ore-Ida |
Ore-Ida's primary production facility is located in Ontario, Oregon, near the Idaho border where the company was originally founded in 1949.[3][4]
In 1934, entrepreneurs Francis Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg began growing sweet corn in eastern Oregon. Their first company, "Grigg Brothers", became the largest distributor of sweet corn in the United States.[1][5][2] 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.[1][5][6] The company was officially founded that year as the "Oregon Frozen Foods Company".[6][7]
The company initially produced and sold frozen corn and French fries.[1][5][8] In 1953, Nephi, Golden, Otis, and Ross developed Tater Tots, bite-sized "logs" formed from seasoned slivers of potatoes, which were leftovers from French fry production.[1][3][9] 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".[10] Tater Tots are today considered the brand's most well known product.[9][2][4]
In 1960, the company built a second plant in Burley, Idaho.[6][11] The company's name is a syllabic abbreviation of the first few letters of Oregon and Idaho and the original logo consisted of the outlines of Oregon and Idaho with Ore-Ida superimposed in italicized letters.[1]
After going public in 1961,[1][12] the Ore-Ida brand was acquired by the H. J. Heinz Company in 1965.[1][11][13] The Heinz company coined Ore-Ida's long-time advertising slogan: “When it says Ore-Ida, it’s All Righta.”[11]
McCain Foods purchased Ore-Ida's foodservice division in 1997, acquiring five of the company's plants, including the Burley location.[2][14][15] Ore-Ida's division headquarters were located in Boise until 1999, when a new frozen foods division was created based at Heinz's corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[14][16]
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