Folgers
 | |
| Product type | Coffee |
|---|---|
| Owner | The J.M. Smucker Company (2008) |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1850 |
| Markets | North America |
| Previous owners | Procter & Gamble (1963-2008) |
| Tagline | "The Best Part of Wakin' Up is Folgers in Your Cup" |
| Website |
folgers |
Folgers Coffee is a brand of coffee in the United States, part of the food and beverage division of The J.M. Smucker Company. Since the early 1990s, it has been the largest-selling ground coffee in the United States.[2]
Company history
The precursor of the Folger Coffee Company was founded in 1850 in San Francisco, California, U.S., as the Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills. Michael Eden, the owner of the Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills, saw an opportunity to produce roasted and ground coffee ready for brewing. Before that, Californians had to purchase green coffee beans and roast and grind them on their own. To help build his mill, Bovee hired James A. Folger[3] as a carpenter. James had arrived from Nantucket Island at the age of 15 with his two older brothers during the California Gold Rush. In the 1850s, kerosene began to offer a cheaper alternative to whale oil, which had been Nantucket's life-blood, resulting in the re-purposing of many of its ships to bring coffee from South America to San Francisco.[4] After working at Bovee’s mill for nearly a year, James had saved enough money to stake a claim in the company and headed out to mine for gold. He agreed to carry along samples of coffee and spices, taking orders from grocery stores along the way. Upon his return to San Francisco in 1865, James became a full partner of The Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills. In 1872, he bought out the other partners and renamed the company to J.A. Folger & Co.
In 1861, James married, and he and his wife had four children. Two of the children worked for the family business. In 1889, James died, and his oldest son, James A. Folger II, stepped into the role of president of J.A. Folger & Co at the age of 26.
In the 1900s, the company began to grow dramatically due primarily to a salesman named Frank P. Atha. Atha sold coffee in the California area, but proposed to James Folger II that he open and manage a Folgers Coffee plant in Texas. The company grew exponentially after Atha opened the Texas plant.
Under the mid-20th century leadership of Peter Folger, the brand became one of the principal coffee concerns in the world's largest coffee market: North America. Procter & Gamble (P&G) acquired Folger's in 1963[5] and removed the apostrophe from its name. During P&G’s ownership, Folgers became the number-one coffee brand in America.
P&G announced in January 2008 Folgers would be spun off into a separate Cincinnati-based company.[6] In June 2008, P&G reversed itself and announced Folgers would be acquired by the end of 2008 by The J.M. Smucker Company.[7][8] Utilizing a rare financial technique called a Reverse Morris Trust, Smucker purchased Folgers in November 2008 and made it a subsidiary.
Brands
Eleven brands of Folgers are available in the United States
- Classic Roast, including Classic "Red Can" and half-caffeine medium roasts
- Classic Complements, including Gourmet Supreme (Dark Roast), 100% Colombian (Medium-Dark Roast), French Roast (Medium-Dark Roast), Black Silk (Dark Roast) and Breakfast Blend (Light Roast)
- Simply Smooth, a medium roast coffee
- Flavored Coffee, including Hazelnut, French Vanilla, Chocolate Silk, and Cinnamon
- Folgers Gourmet Selections, a line of varietal and flavored coffees
- Instant Coffee, Folgers Crystals available in Regular and Decaf
- Singles, single serve packets
- Home Cafe Pods, for use with one cup brewing systems such as HomeCafe.
- Cappuccino, instant French Vanilla and Mocha Chocolate cappuccino powder
- Folgers Flavors Coffee Enhancers, including Caramel, Vanilla, Mocha, and Hazelnut
- Folgers Iced Café Coffee Drink Concentrates, including Original Latte, Caramel Macchiato, Vanilla Latte, and Hazelnut Latte
In Canada, Folgers is primarily available as Classic Roast and Mountain Roast.
In the United Kingdom, Folgers Instant Crystals are available.
Advertising
Folgers is promoted with the slogan "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup!" It is well associated with a jingle featured in almost every advertisement since 1984, with lyrics by Susan Spiegel Solovay and Bill Vernick, and music by Leslie Pearl. Over the years it has been rearranged and performed by many famous musicians, such as Ritchie Havens, Randy Travis, Aretha Franklin, and Rockapella.
Folgers was known for many years for television ads involving "Mrs. Olson," a Swedish neighbor who invariably recommended a cup of Folgers coffee for the characters in the commercial, who were almost always housewives with various problems making delicious-tasting coffee. From 1965 to 1986, actress Virginia Christine reminded viewers Folgers was "mountain grown, the richest kind of coffee."[9]
Folgers promoted their instant coffee in 1970s and early 1980s ads which took the viewer inside various gourmet restaurants while a voice-over (played by Bryan Clark) whispered, "We are here at (insert name of four-star restaurant), where we've secretly replaced the fine coffee they usually serve with Folgers Crystals. Let's see if anyone can tell the difference!" Clark ended the commercials with the line, "Folgers Crystals...coffee rich enough to be served in America's finest restaurants."
One Folgers television ad from 1985 became particularly associated with the Christmas holidays. A student named Peter returns home from college, the smell of freshly brewed coffee awakening his parents and alerting them to their son's arrival. The Cunningham & Walsh spot aired yearly until 1998, then in edited form in 2004 and 2005. In 2009, a similar theme was employed, a son coming home from West Africa and waking up to the smell of coffee.[10]
In the mid-1980s Folgers became one of the first NASCAR sponsors that was not affiliated with an automotive, tobacco, or beer company. After a trial season with the Joe Ruttman driven, Larry McClure owned Chevrolet in 1985, Folgers expanded sponsorships with high-profile race teams and popular drivers such as Tim Richmond, Benny Parsons, Ken Schrader, and Mark Martin.[11][12][13]
In 2006, the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi created a viral advertisement, popularly known as "Happy Mornings," for Folgers. The ad, in which a large group of cheerful singers and dancers appear at sunrise as the sun itself to wake people up, has been widely distributed on weblogs and video sites such as YouTube.
In 2010, Folgers ran a Folgers Jingle Contest in which fans could submit their own renditions of the “The Best Part of Wakin’ Up” jingle through video submissions. The contest ran in 2011 and in 2013, and in 2014, the brand celebrated the 30th anniversary of the famous jingle.[14]
The Folger Building
The brick, five-story Folger Coffee Company Building at 101 Howard in San Francisco, California is the former headquarters of Folgers. It is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.[15] The building still has a sign saying "The Folgers Coffee Company" on one corner. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has its California campus on the top floor, where Wharton's MBA for Executives program is offered.
On August 2, 2011, the Folger Building was purchased by the University of San Francisco, marking a return to the university's roots in downtown San Francisco.[16]
In the news
Abigail Folger, an heiress to the company fortune and a friend of actress Sharon Tate, was one of the five victims who, along with Tate, was brutally murdered in the early morning hours of August 9, 1969 by Charles Manson's "family" while she was visiting with Tate.
References
- ↑ Bachedler, Horace W. (1898). Illustrated Rostr of California Volunteer Soldiers in the War With Spain. San Francisco: Bonestel & Co. p. 17.
- ↑ http://www.statista.com/statistics/188313/leading-regular-ground-coffee-vendors-in-the-united-states-in-2011/
- ↑ Folgers Coffee History – Folgers Coffee
- ↑ Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, Viking, 2000.
- ↑ http://www.folgerscoffee.com/about-us/folgers-history, accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ "P&G Opts for a Folgers Spinoff instead of Sale". Dow Jones Newswire. Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ↑ "The J.M. Smucker Company to Merge P&G's Folgers Business". J.M. Smucker Co. Press Release. June 4, 2008.
- ↑ "The Marketing Doctor Says: Smuckers Buys Folgers" Marketing Doctor Blog. June 6, 2008.
- ↑ "Virginia Christine, TV's Mrs. Olson, 76". Associated Press in New York Times. BrandlandUSA.com Blog. July 26, 1996. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
Virginia Christine, a character actress who portrayed the motherly Mrs. Olson in Folger's coffee television commercials for 21 years, died on Wednesday at her home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. She was 76. The cause was heart complications, her family said.
- ↑ "Folgers "Peter" Tells of Classic Christmas Commercial". Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ↑ "Tim Richmond 1986 drivers statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ "1987 Benny Parsons Drivers Statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ "1988 Ken Schrader Driver's Statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ The Folgers Jingle — Folgers Coffee
- ↑ "National Register of Historic Places - California (CA), San Francisco County". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-05-25.
- ↑ University of San Francisco (USF) - USF Purchases Historic Folger Building
Further reading
- The Folger Way - Coffee Pioneering since 1850 by Ruth Waldo Newhall (1961) (no ISBN number)