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Domino Foods

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Not to be confused withDomino's Pizza.
Domino Foods, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFood industry
Founded1807 as W. & F.C. Havemeyer Company
FoundersWilliam Havemeyer, Frederick Havemeyer
Headquarters
Yonkers, New York
,
United States
Area served
United States
ProductsSugar
ParentAmerican Sugar Refining

Domino Foods, Inc.(also known asDFIand formerly known asW. & F.C. Havemeyer Company,Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery,andDomino Sugar) is aprivately heldsugarmarketing and sales company based inYonkers,New York,United States, that sells products produced by its manufacturing members. DFI distributes sugar to retailers under four brand names across the U.S:Domino,C&H,Florida Crystals,andRedpath.Its namesake product, theDomino Sugarbrand name, whose products are generally sold in two-tone packaging (white on top, yellow on bottom) with blue labeling text, is the best known.[by whom?]Domino Foods is the largest sugar company in the United States.[citation needed]

Domino Sugar has been a renowned brand in the United Stateseast coastmarkets for more than 100 years. The brand name, Domino, was officially adopted in 1901 by a New York–based sugar company. Later, the distinctive yellow bags of Domino Sugar became the highly recognizable packaging of granulated sugar. In recent years, the brand has expanded its portfolio of all-natural sweeteners to includeagave nectar.Domino Foods owns three major U.S.refineries,located inYonkers,New York;Baltimore,Maryland;andChalmette,Louisiana,with a combined production capacity of 2.2 million metric tons of sugar per year.[1]

History

[edit]
Crystal Domino sugar ad, 1910

In 1799, William Havemeyer, who had been an apprentice of a Londonsugar refiner,was hired by Edmund Seaman to manage hissugar refineryinNew York City.His brother, Frederick Havemeyer, joined him in 1802.[2]In 1807, the brothers opened their own sugar refining business calledW. & F.C. Havemeyer Companyon Vandam Street.[2]In 1859, the business moved to the waterfront inWilliamsburg,and changed its name to theHavemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery.The company processedslave-grownsugar canes.[3]By 1864, the refinery was the most modern of its time.[by whom?]After a fire destroyed the refinery in 1882, thecurrent plantwas rebuilt and was the largest sugar refinery in the United States. After theSugar Trustwas ruled illegal in 1891,Henry Osborne HavemeyerandTheodore A. Havemeyerwere elected as chairman and president, respectively, of theAmerican Sugar Refining Company.In May 1896, American Sugar became one of the original 12 companies in theDow Jones Industrial Average.[4]

The company subsequently acquired five additional sugar refineries and changed its official name to"Domino Sugar"in 1900; the name change was officially recognized by the patent office on October 8, 1901.[5]In 1916, Domino introduced individually wrapped sugar tablets.[citation needed]

Domino Sugars plant inBaltimore, Maryland

In 1970, the American Sugar Company was renamed "The Amstar Corporation".[6]In 1975, Amstar sued pizza chain Domino's Pizza fortrademark infringement;Amstar won at trial but lost on appeal.[7]Amstar was acquired byKohlberg Kravis Robertsin 1983; KKR sold Amstar toMerrill Lynchthree years later.[8][9]Domino Sugar was acquired by British companyTate & Lylein 1988.[10]

In 2001, Domino Sugar officially changed its name to Domino Foods, Inc.[6]The same year, Domino Foods was sold by Tate & Lyle toAmerican Sugar Refining(owned by the Florida Crystals Corporation) and theSugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Floridain a $180 million deal[11]that was closed on November 6, 2001. Florida Crystals, a privately held company, is part of FLO-SUN, a sugar empire of theFanjul Brotherswhose origins trace to Spanish-Cuban sugar plantations of the early 19th century.

In 2009, Domino had its Domino Granulated Sugar and Florida Crystals brands certified ascarbon neutralby theCarbonfund.orgFoundation. It began including the foundation's CarbonFree partner logo on product packaging.[12]The certification involvedcarbon offsetsas well as changes to the production process.[13]Some commentators noted in response that it was chemically impossible forsucrose(C12H22O11) to be free of carbon.[13][14][15]The company issued a statement to clarify that "CarbonFree" referred to the production process rather than the product itself, and was not the same as the phrase "carbon free".[16]

In 2012, Two Trees bought theDomino Sugar Refinerysite inWilliamsburg, Brooklyn,New York, for $185 million. In October 2014, several of the buildings at the site were demolished, including the Syrup Shed, the Wash House, the Turbine Room, the Power House, and the Pump House.[17]As of 2023, construction is ongoing to redevelop the refinery into amixed-use developmentcontainingofficespace, commercial space,residential towers,andparkland.[18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Domino Sugar - ASR Group".American Sugar Refining.Retrieved1 January2020.
  2. ^abPederson (1999)
  3. ^Thomas, Zoe (2019-08-29)."The hidden links between slavery and Wall Street".BBC News.Retrieved2019-09-02.
  4. ^Planes, Alex (April 9, 2013)."What Happened to the First 12 Stocks on the Dow?".The Motley Fool.Archivedfrom the original on November 11, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 15,2019.
  5. ^Diamond, Anna (December 19, 2017)."These Photos of the Abandoned Domino Sugar Refinery Document Its Sticky History".Smithsonian.Retrieved19 March2018.
  6. ^ab"Sugar Products, Baking Tips, Sweet Recipes, & More - Domino Sugar".dominosugar.com.Archived fromthe originalon 6 September 2015.Retrieved15 June2015.
  7. ^Amstar Corp. v. Domino's Pizza, Inc., 615 F.2d 252, 260 (5th Cir. 1980)
  8. ^"Amstar-Kohlberg".The New York Times.1983-10-22. p. 34.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-04-07.
  9. ^"Amstar Sale Plan Reported".The New York Times.1986-09-19. p. 15.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-04-07.
  10. ^Henry, Kristine (2001-06-19)."Profits sour, Domino Sugar for sale".The Baltimore Sun.Retrieved15 June2015.
  11. ^Berk, Michele (November 6, 2001)."Domino Sugar sale closes".Baltimore Business Journal.Retrieved15 June2015.
  12. ^"Domino debuts CarbonFree sugar line".Food Business News.Vol. 5. 2009. p. 45.Retrieved28 December2020.
  13. ^abRomm, Joe(May 3, 2009)."Offsets gone wild: Domino's Certified Carbonfree Sugar!".ThinkProgress.RetrievedDecember 28,2020.
  14. ^Taranto, James(September 14, 2012)."A River in Egypt".Wall Street Journal.RetrievedDecember 28,2020.
  15. ^Bailey, Ronald(September 17, 2012)."Carbon Free Sugar?".Reason.RetrievedDecember 28,2020.
  16. ^Romm 2009,citing"Q&A".Domino Sugar. Archived fromthe originalon October 19, 2009.RetrievedDecember 28,2020.
  17. ^"Domino Sugar Factory Brooklyn - Two Trees Management Domino".The Real Deal New York.20 October 2014.Retrieved15 June2015.
  18. ^Cuozzo, Steve (May 24, 2016)."Brooklyn's waterfront future starts with Domino Sugar site".New York Post.Archivedfrom the original on June 21, 2020.RetrievedJune 18,2020.

Additional references

[edit]
  • Pederson, Jay P., ed. (1999). "Domino Sugar Corporation".International Directory of Company Histories.St. James Press.
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