History & Heritage
When Seneca was founded in 1949, there were still 2 million mules plowing the farms of America. There has been tremendous growth and innovation in the industry, and below are some of the highlights from our business over the decades.
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1950s
- Contracted with Minute Maid® to co-pack the first frozen grape juice in the nation.
- Acquired Hudson Valley Pure Food Co., Hilton Fruit Co-op, North Wayne Co-op and Westfield Maid Co-op.
- Added apple processing, syrups and maraschino cherries.
- Developed private label, bulk, industrial and co-pack segments.
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1960s
- Our corporate name was changed from Seneca Grape Juice Company to Seneca Foods Corporation.
- Opened The Prosser, a Washington plant.
- Consolidated The Highland and Westfield, New York plants into an expanded Dundee plant.
- Continued to add brokers and expand distribution throughout the country.
- Premiered our first advertisement on popular network TV shows and other media.
- Acquired Boordy Vineyards and began making quality wine.
- Introduced Vitamin C-enriched apple juice, a first in the industry!
- Seneca Stock began trading in the over-the-counter market.
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1970s
- Acquired the S.S. Pierce Company and changed our corporate name to S.S. Pierce Company.
- A non-food group was added through the acquisition of Tapetex (textiles), Lehman Bros. (paint), and Castle Hansen (glass).
- Purchased Marion Canning which marked our entry into vegetable processing.
- Purchased an apple processing plant in Mountain Home, North Carolina.
- Increased business with retail and food service customers through acquiring Fruit Belt Preserving Co., Seneca Kraut, and Perfection Foods.
- Began the production of metal cans for both our juice and vegetable products
-
1980s
- Our corporate name was changed back to Seneca Foods Corporation.
- Acquired Libby's® canned vegetables and six additional processing plants.
- Rolled out the first natural frozen grape juice and expanded our juice line.
- Advertised our juices nationally using Marion Ross from TV's "Happy Days".
- Entered the private label retail and food service vegetable business in the Midwest.
- Began producing IQF frozen vegetables for the foodservice and industrial markets.
-
1990s
- Acquired several name brands including Treesweet®, Orange Plus®, Awake® juice Blue Boy®, Aunt Nellie's® and Lohmann® brands.
- Expanded sales to global markets with the acquisition of an apple chip business.
- Acquired six vegetable plants from Pillsbury® and entered into an alliance with them to manufacture products for the Green Giant® label.
- Acquired a maraschino cherry and glace fruit business.
- Focused resources on our core vegetable business.
- Acquired the rights to market a full range of International Libby products to over 30 countries around the world.
- Expanded Seneca Flight Operations.
-
2000s
- Celebrated a Golden Anniversary: 50 years of dedication to our consumers.
- Seneca Snack Company acquired the vacuum frying assets of Tastee Apple, Inc.
- Acquired 100% of the membership interests of Signature Fruit Company, LLC.
- Completed the second largest acquisition in its history by acquiring 12 plants from Chiquita Brands, Inc.
- Acquired Agrilink's Midwest private label canned vegetable business.
-
2010s
- Acquired the assets of UniLink, LLC and Lebanon Valley Cold Storage, LP, creating an eastern distribution point.
- Innovation played a large part towards Seneca's growth from product line extensions of Aunt Nellie's® 3-Bean Salad to the development of Seneca Potato Chips, and more.
- Acquired Gray & Company, based in Hart, Michigan, the world's leading provider of maraschino cherries and one of the largest providers of glace or candied fruit products.
- Completed the acquisition of Truitt Bros. Inc. to expand our contract manufacturing capabilities.
- Contracted with Minute Maid® to co-pack the first frozen grape juice in the nation.
- Acquired Hudson Valley Pure Food Co., Hilton Fruit Co-op, North Wayne Co-op and Westfield Maid Co-op.
- Added apple processing, syrups and maraschino cherries.
- Developed private label, bulk, industrial and co-pack segments.
- Our corporate name was changed from Seneca Grape Juice Company to Seneca Foods Corporation.
- Opened The Prosser, a Washington plant.
- Consolidated The Highland and Westfield, New York plants into an expanded Dundee plant.
- Continued to add brokers and expand distribution throughout the country.
- Premiered our first advertisement on popular network TV shows and other media.
- Acquired Boordy Vineyards and began making quality wine.
- Introduced Vitamin C-enriched apple juice, a first in the industry!
- Seneca Stock began trading in the over-the-counter market.
- Acquired the S.S. Pierce Company and changed our corporate name to S.S. Pierce Company.
- A non-food group was added through the acquisition of Tapetex (textiles), Lehman Bros. (paint), and Castle Hansen (glass).
- Purchased Marion Canning which marked our entry into vegetable processing.
- Purchased an apple processing plant in Mountain Home, North Carolina.
- Increased business with retail and food service customers through acquiring Fruit Belt Preserving Co., Seneca Kraut, and Perfection Foods.
- Began the production of metal cans for both our juice and vegetable products
- Our corporate name was changed back to Seneca Foods Corporation.
- Acquired Libby's® canned vegetables and six additional processing plants.
- Rolled out the first natural frozen grape juice and expanded our juice line.
- Advertised our juices nationally using Marion Ross from TV's "Happy Days".
- Entered the private label retail and food service vegetable business in the Midwest.
- Began producing IQF frozen vegetables for the foodservice and industrial markets.
- Acquired several name brands including Treesweet®, Orange Plus®, Awake® juice Blue Boy®, Aunt Nellie's® and Lohmann® brands.
- Expanded sales to global markets with the acquisition of an apple chip business.
- Acquired six vegetable plants from Pillsbury® and entered into an alliance with them to manufacture products for the Green Giant® label.
- Acquired a maraschino cherry and glace fruit business.
- Focused resources on our core vegetable business.
- Acquired the rights to market a full range of International Libby products to over 30 countries around the world.
- Expanded Seneca Flight Operations.
- Celebrated a Golden Anniversary: 50 years of dedication to our consumers.
- Seneca Snack Company acquired the vacuum frying assets of Tastee Apple, Inc.
- Acquired 100% of the membership interests of Signature Fruit Company, LLC.
- Completed the second largest acquisition in its history by acquiring 12 plants from Chiquita Brands, Inc.
- Acquired Agrilink's Midwest private label canned vegetable business.
- Acquired the assets of UniLink, LLC and Lebanon Valley Cold Storage, LP, creating an eastern distribution point.
- Innovation played a large part towards Seneca's growth from product line extensions of Aunt Nellie's® 3-Bean Salad to the development of Seneca Potato Chips, and more.
- Acquired Gray & Company, based in Hart, Michigan, the world's leading provider of maraschino cherries and one of the largest providers of glace or candied fruit products.
- Completed the acquisition of Truitt Bros. Inc. to expand our contract manufacturing capabilities.
