Fleischmann's Yeast

Fleischmann's Yeast is an American brand of yeast founded by Hungarian-American businessman Charles Louis Fleischmann. It is currently owned by Associated British Foods and is sold to both consumer and industrial markets in the United States and Canada.

The yeast is available in a number of different forms with various qualities and intended uses. Fleischmann's is also a brand name of corn oil margarine.

History

The company was founded by Hungarian Jews Charles Louis Fleischmann, his brother Maximilian, and James Gaff in Riverside, Cincinnati, in 1868,[1] as Gaff, Fleischmann & Company. They exhibited their yeast at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. After Gaff's death in 1881, the name was changed to Fleischmann and Company, and then The Fleischmann Company in 1905.[2]

In 1924, the brothers' nephew Raoul Fleischmann, using the wealth generated by the family business, provided the funding for the launch of The New Yorker with his friend Harold Ross. Raoul invested $700,000 before the magazine became profitable, and he was the magazine's publisher until his death in 1969.[3]

In 1929, the company was merged into Standard Brands by J.P. Morgan, and that same year the company began the sponsorship of the musical variety radio program, The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour starring Rudy Vallée.[4]

In the 1930s, the company's advertisements highlighted "intestinal fatigue", a condition said to be brought on by the pressures of modern civilization. The ads claimed that Fleischmann's Yeast was an effective treatment for the condition, despite protests by the American Medical Association.[5] In 1936, Consumer Reports disputed Fleischmann Yeast's advertising claims that it cured constipation and acne.[6]

1932 advertisement, promoting cakes of fresh yeast as a laxative and tonic

Standard Brands merged with Nabisco Brands, Inc. in 1981. In 1986, RJR Nabisco sold Fleischmann's to the Australian company Burns Philp for $130 million.[7] Burns Philp sold its yeast business to Associated British Foods in 2004 for US$1.4 billion.[8][9]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in March and for subsequent months, Fleischmann's struggled to meet surging demand for its products, as house-bound consumers sought to produce more of their own baked goods. The company faced shortages of raw materials and the lengthy process of yeast production limited production.[10]

Products

Common forms of yeast Fleischmann's make are: (i) cubes or "cakes" of compressed fresh yeast wrapped in foil, an original form of packaged yeast that is soft and perishable; (ii) packets of Active Dry Yeast, a shelf stable granular yeast invented by Fleischmann during WWII; (iii) packets of RapidRise yeast intended to reduce dough rising time by as much as 50% by bypassing the first rise; (iv) bread machine yeast, an instant yeast sold in a glass jar; and (v) pizza crust yeast, an instant yeast packaged with enzymes and dough relaxers such as L-Cysteine intended to add pliability to dough and reduce the amount of time needed to make a fresh pizza crust.[11]

Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast is the best-known of their yeast products due to its extended shelf life compared to fresh yeast.

Presidents

See also

References
  1. "Morgan Mergers". Time. 1929. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved 2008-08-04. But also announced last week was a Morgan-managed merger of Fleischmann Co., Royal Baking Powder Co., and E. W. Gillett, Ltd. ... No transportation problem existed in 1868 when Charles and Maximilian Fleischmann, immigrants from Austria-Hungary, and James Gaff of Cincinnati, founded Gaff, Fleischmann & Co. at Riverside, Ohio. Their first great forward step was made in 1876 when they exhibited a Model Vienna Bakery at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. From the fame of this exhibit came an increased demand for Fleischmann's yeast. Soon there was a Fleischmann plant on Long Island, then another at Peekskill, N. Y, Guiding spirit of the early Fleischmann company was Charles Fleischmann, who died in 1897. It was under the leadership (1897-1925) of the late Julius Fleischmann that the company went through its major expansion period. Following his death, his brother, Major Max C. Fleischmann, stepped to the front.
  2. Andes, Karrie K.; Norman, Sandra J. (1998). Vintage Cookbooks and Advertising Leaflets. Schiffer Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 0764306219.
  3. "Raoul H. Fleischmann, Publisher of the New Yorker, Dies at 83; Raoul Fleischmann of the New Yorker Dies at 83".
  4. "Pennies from Leaven". Time. 1940. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. Retrieved 2008-08-04. But in spite of interests that have ranged from racing horses to backing ballets, the outdoorsy Fleischmann clan had something to worry about last week. For the descendants and in-laws of old Charles Fleischmann, who started a great industry in 1868 by peddling yeast in Cincinnati, are now the holders of close to 10% of the 12,648,108 outstanding common shares of huge Standard Brands Inc. And this No. 2 U.S. packaged food company (No. 1, General Foods) is not doing anything like as handsomely as the House of Morgan thought it would when it put it together around the Fleischmann Co. back in 1929.
  5. Cross, Mary (2002). A Century of American Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture. Greenwood Press. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-0313314810. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  6. "The Good Housekeeping Institute". Consumer Reports. July 1936. p. 2.
  7. "RJR Nabisco Sale". The New York Times. 1986-05-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  8. Newswires, Richard Noonan Dow Jones (2004-07-22). "Burns Philp Agrees to Unload Its Spices, Core Yeast Business". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  9. "London-based food company buys Fleischmann's Yeast". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  10. "The Reason There's Still a Yeast Shortage". 15 April 2020.
  11. Brown, Davis (2022-11-28). "Is Pizza Yeast the Same as Instant Yeast? (Explained) - The WhiteMeal". Retrieved 2022-12-01.
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