Gerber Products history

In 1927 Dorothy Gerber's pediatrician recommended that she introduce her two young daughters to strained fruits and vegetables.

The first flavors, introduced in late 1928, were strained peas, prunes, carrots, spinach, and beef vegetable soup.

Gerber adopted it as its official trademark in 1931.

By 1935 more than sixty other manufacturers had introduced their own vitamin-rich, pressure-cooked, sealed baby foods.

By 1941 the company, which was meeting a demand for a million cans of baby food each week, was renamed the Gerber Products Company.

Established in 1952 as the Gerber Baby Foods Fund by Daniel Gerber, Sr. and Gerber Products Company, the Foundation provided $14,700 in support to various organizations during the first year of operation.

In 1960, the company expanded its line of products to market baby-care items such as bottles, teethers, and breast-feeding accessories.

The Gerber Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary, was established in 1967.

At the time of Daniel Gerber’s death in 1974 the company could boast that it was the world’s largest baby-food manufacturer, with sales of $278 million and an enviable domestic market share of nearly 70 percent.

In 1977 the company faced down a major threat when Anderson, Clayton, and Company, a food products firm based in Houston, launched a serious takeover attempt.

In 1979, with birth rates declining, it launched a major diversification campaign acquiring freight carrier, furniture, toy, and other subsidiaries.

Fucini, Joseph J., and Suzy Fucini, “Dan Gerber: Gerber Baby Food,” Entrepreneurs: The Men and Women behind Famous Brand Names and How They Made It, Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1985.

Goulet’s sudden death in 1987 forced the company’s board of directors to seek new management from outside the company.

During this time the company's leadership changed hands several times with former Carnation senior vice president Alfred A. Piergallini eventually taking over as chief executive officer (CEO) in 1988.

Since July 1992 Gerber had been attempting, unsuccessfully, to unload Buster Brown Apparel, a once-profitable supplier of high-fashion clothing that had shown a trend toward declining sales.