Daniel Frank Gerber

Daniel Frank Gerber
Born	May 6, 1898(1898-05-06) Fremont, Michigan
Died	March 16, 1974(1974-03-16) (age 76) Fremont, Michigan
Nationality	American
Occupation	Baby Food Manufacturer
Political party	Republican
Religion	Christian Scientist
Spouse	Dorothy Marion Scott married 1923
Parents	Frank Daniel Gerber Pauline Dora Platt

Daniel Frank Gerber (May 6, 1898 – March 16, 1974) was a manufacturer of baby food.^[1]

Early life

Gerber, the subject of this article, went by the name "Dan" to his friends and relatives. He was born in Fremont of Newaygo County, Michigan, in 1898 – the son of Frank Daniel Gerber.^[1]

Mid life

Gerber was educated at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin. He attended the academy from 1913 to 1916. Gerber served in the army during World War I. He then attended the Babson College of business administration from 1919 to 1920 for a year. Later in 1920 he hired in at Fremont Canning Company that his father owned.^[2] He was a successful manager and by 1926 he had become assistant general manager of the company.^[1]

Gerber began urging his father to begin the production of strained baby foods at the cannery in 1927. Daniel and his wife Dorothy had an ill baby called Sally. Dan’s wife suggested that he persuade his father to begin making and selling at their canning company strained baby foods in order to end the chore of cooking, straining and preparing solid foods for babies.^[3]

Gerber with his father did some extensive research on this new concept. They contacted nutritional experts, distributed many samples, and conducted market research interviews before launching their product. The idea of strained baby foods was not entirely new, but the long held American tradition was that babies generally were given a liquid diet until they were about a year old. This new concept of strained baby foods would be going against the trend. It was risky to introduce this new concept to the marketplace as they had no idea how mothers would react on this new idea.^[1]

In 1928 their canning company started an advertising campaign in Good Housekeeping, Parents Magazine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and other magazines. Their task was to convince parents to adopt new feeding concepts. The campaign worked and into the 1930s the canning company expanded its baby food lines.^[1]

Later life

In the 1950s the company that Gerber was now running, since his father died in 1952, added three new plants. One in Asheville, North Carolina; one in Rochester, New York; and another in Niagara Falls, Ontario.^[1]

Gerber expanded and diversified the company. He added a toy line in 1955 and had the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1956 for the first time. He also opened a Mexican subsidiary in 1959. In 1965 he added a large line of baby-related products.^[1]

At Gerber's death in 1974 the company claimed it was the world's largest baby-food manufacturer.^[1]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Ingham, p. 443-445
2. ^ Ingham, p. 443 In 1920 he joined the family firm.
3. ^ Shapiro, p. 28

Sources

• Ingham, John N., Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders: A-G, Greenwood Press (1983); ISBN 0-3132390-7-X
• Shapiro, Eileen C., Fad Surfing in the Boardroom: Managing in the Age of Instant Answers, Basic Books (1996), ISBN 0-2014419-5-0
• Obituary, New York Times, March 18, 1974

Persondata
Name	Gerber, Daniel Frank
Alternative names	Dan Gerber
Short description	baby food manufacturer
Date of birth	May 6, 1898
Place of birth	Fremont, Michigan
Date of death	March 16, 1974
Place of death	Fremont, Michigan