Gerber Products Company - History

History

The company was founded in 1927 in Fremont, Michigan, by Daniel Frank Gerber, owner of the Fremont Canning Company, which produced canned fruit and vegetables. At the suggestion of a pediatrician, Gerber's wife Dorothy Gerber began making hand-strained food for their seven-month-old daughter, Sally. Recognising a business opportunity, Gerber began making baby food. By 1928, he had developed five products for the market: strained peas, prunes, carrots and spinach, and beef vegetable soup. Six months later, Gerber's baby foods were distributed nationwide.

The brand eventually became a major company in the baby food industry; it offers more than 190 products in 80 countries, with labeling in 16 languages. The main competitors are Beech-Nut and Del Monte Foods, but Gerber controls 83 percent of the baby food market in the United States.

In 1994 Gerber merged with Sandoz Laboratories. Two years later, Sandoz merged with CIBA-Geigy to form Novartis, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In 2007, Gerber was sold to the Nestlé Company for $5.5 billion.

Its subsidiary Gerber Life Insurance Company is located in White Plains, New York.