consumer-staples
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Hormel Built a $12 Billion Business Out of the Middle of the Grocery Store
The maker of SPAM now reaches 81 percent of U.S. households with a portfolio that runs from peanuts to pepperoni. Its real product is a system for putting familiar food almost everywhere people eat.
The egg company that put a farm's name on every carton
How a 20-hen Texas farm turned radical transparency and 108 square feet of pasture per bird into a $759 million business - one carton at a time.
The Snack Empire You've Eaten From and Never Heard Of
How a bankrupt pretzel maker bought for $72,100 in 1971 became the quiet $1.58 billion supplier behind the ICEE at the ballpark, the Dippin' Dots at the fair and the pretzel in the freezer aisle.
The Beer Giant Learning to Think Local Again
Molson Coors spent two centuries getting very good at scale. Its next act depends on making that global machine move at the speed of a neighborhood bar.
The Company Behind Your Coffee Break Is Preparing to Split in Two
Keurig Dr Pepper built an unusual empire by pairing supermarket coolers with kitchen counters. Now, after buying JDE Peet's, it is integrating a global coffee business while preparing to turn one sprawling beverage company into two focused ones.
MGP Ingredients
MGP spent decades making the whiskey behind other people’s labels. Now it must manage a rare three-way act - supplier, brand owner and food-science partner - while America works through too many aging barrels.
General Mills
It began as one flour mill on the Mississippi in 1866. A century and a half later, General Mills fills roughly nine in ten American pantries - and is betting its next chapter on cereal, snacks and, increasingly, the dog bowl.
Mama's Creations
The only publicly traded company built entirely around the deli case turned a grandmother's Sunday sauce into a $171 million bet on the least glamorous corner of the grocery store.
Grocery Outlet
Grocery Outlet is an American extreme-value retailer that sells name-brand and private-label groceries at prices generally 40% to 70% below conventional supermarkets. Founded in 1946 in San Francisco, it built a flexible 'opportunistic buying' model that scoops up overstock, closeout, and out-of-spec products from suppliers and resells them through a network of locally run, independently operated stores. The treasure-hunt assortment changes constantly, and each store is run by entrepreneurial Independent Operators who split profits with the company and tailor shelves to their neighborhood.