Ken's Foods

Ken's Foods is a privately held food manufacturing company located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Ken's primary products are salad dressings, sauces, and marinades. The company's commercial food manufacturing divisions produce products both for retail sale and food service, including contract manufacturing for companies such as Newman's Own.[1]

Operations
Store shelves filled with bottles of salad dressing.
Selection of Ken's Steakhouse dressings in a grocery store.

Ken's is the number-three manufacturer of salad dressings in the United States behind Kraft Foods and Wish-Bone. Besides its headquarters in Marlborough, the company employs over 1,200 people in facilities located in McDonough, Georgia, Lebanon, Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada.[2] The company's commercial foods division provides the majority of business, generating about $100 million in sales during 2001. Its retail sales of the company's bottled products reached almost $88 million in 2002.[2]

The Georgia branch of Ken’s Foods Inc. is located in Henry County and is responsible for employing a large portion of the county’s residents. The company is not only committed to increasing the amount of available jobs for people within rural communities but also strives to improve efficiency of the resulting workflow. For Ken’s, this goal is achieved by investing in production infrastructure and sustainability efforts. In 2020, according to a statement made by the chief operating officer for Ken’s Foods, Inc., Bob Merchant, the company was planning to invest $103 million into Henry County to be used towards the upgrade of production lines, relocation of its support facility, and reduction of traffic on typically congested Georgia highways."Ken's Foods Invests $103 Million to Expand McDonough, Henry County Operations | Georgia Department of Economic Development". Retrieved 2023-04-10.

Beyond their infrastructural improvements, the brand has also invested in the perseverance of the environment. In the summer of 2008, the Massachusetts location of Ken’s Foods became the first site of an Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) installation in all of North America. The use of this technology improves upon the former anaerobic process. The newer system effectively treats higher levels of biomass of wastewater that result from the production of Ken's Foods barbecue sauce and salad dressing products. The implementation of this process has been helpful in allowing the company to rely more heavily on renewable sources of energy as opposed to nonrenewable energy techniques of the past.Scott, Christian; Grant, Shannon; McCarthy, Peter; Wilson, Dwain; Mills, Dale (2011-06-01). "The First Two Years of Full-Scale Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) Operation Treating High-Strength Industrial Wastewater". Water Practice and Technology. 6 (2). doi:10.2166/wpt.2011.032. ProQuest 1943909954. Retrieved 2023-04-12.

Ken's Steak House on Route 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts

History

The brand takes its name after Ken's Steak House, a Framingham, Massachusetts, restaurant founded by Ken and Florence Hanna in 1941. As the restaurant grew, locals began to request that the Hannas bottle their dressings for sale. In 1958 the Hannas licensed the company's name to a family friend and the manufacturing company was then founded.[3]

In 2010, Ken’s Foods launched a new line of dressings under the name "Healthy Options". After the recession, many consumers began to reach for items that were more economically priced in addition to brands that were more health conscious. In an effort to please this new demand within the market, Ken’s Foods created a line that was healthier than their already established lite dressing options. Healthy Options featured an ingredient list that reduced salt and fat content while incorporating a higher percentage of omega-3s.[4]

Ken’s ingredient list received some backlash from consumers who claimed that the labels on the bottles displayed misleading information. This was the basis for the 2020 court case, Skinner v. Ken’s Foods Inc. The labels originally emphasized the presence of olive oil by placing the words, "Made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil", on the neck of the bottle. However, upon further observance of the official ingredient list, olive oil was not a significant percentage of the total components that made up the brand’s salad dressings. While the consumers demanded monetary compensation for the deception that they felt the company was guilty of, Ken’s denied this claim. As a form of compromise, the company did complete the process of relabeling their bottles in an effort to be more transparent about the product that they were offering.[5]

References
  1. Newman, Paul (November 3, 2003). "Newman's Own Story". Time. Time Warner.
  2. Frumpkin, Paul (2002-05-20). "Ken's Steak House, Ken's Foods embroiled in trademark lawsuit". Nation's Restaurant News. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  3. "Ken's Heritage". Ken's Foods. Archived from the original on 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  4. "Article: Economics, Flavors Define Dressing and Sauce Trends — March 2010". Prepared Foods. 2010. ISSN 0747-2536.
  5. Skinner v. Ken's Foods, Inc., vol. 53, 2020-08-21, p. 938

"Article: Economics, Flavors Define Dressing and Sauce Trends -- March 2010". Prepared Foods. 2010. ISSN 0747-2536.

"Ken's Foods Invests $103 Million to Expand McDonough, Henry County Operations | Georgia Department of Economic Development". Retrieved 2023-04-10.

Scott, Christian; Grant, Shannon; McCarthy, Peter; Wilson, Dwain; Mills, Dale (2011-06-01). "The First Two Years of Full-Scale Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) Operation Treating High-Strength Industrial Wastewater". Water Practice and Technology. 6 (2). doi:10.2166/wpt.2011.032. ProQuest 1943909954. Retrieved 2023-04-12.

Skinner v. Ken's Foods, Inc., vol. 53, 2020-08-21, p. 938


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