- Domino Foods
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Landmark Domino Sugar plant in Williamsburg (Brooklyn), New York
Domino Foods, Inc. is a US company owned by American Sugar Refining Inc. that markets sugar through its brand portfolio: Domino®, C&H®, Florida Crystals®, and Redpath®.
History
In 1799, William Frederick Havemeyer, who had been an apprentice of a London sugar refiner, began running Mr. Seaman's refinery in New York City. His brother joined him in 1802. On January 1, 1807, a new plant was opened as Wm. and F.C. Havemaker. Another plant superseded this one in 1859. It was known as Havemayer, Townsend & Co Refinery. By 1864, the refinery was the most modern of its time. After the Sugar Trust was ruled illegal in 1891, Henry Osborne Havemeyer and Theodore A. Havemeyer were elected as chairman and president, respectively, of the American Sugar Refining Company. In May, 1896, American Sugar became one of the original 12 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The company subsequently acquired five additional refineries. The company became known as Domino Sugar in 1900 and was officially recognized by the patent office on October 8, 1901. In 1916 Domino introduced individually wrapped sugar tablets, and in 1920 the transparent window carton.
In 1970 the American Sugar Company became the Amstar Corporation.[1] In 1975, Amstar sued Domino's Pizza for trademark infringement; Amstar won at trial but lost on appeal.[2] In 2001, Domino Sugar officially became Domino Foods, Inc.[1]
Domino Sugar Corp. was sold in 2001 to Florida Crystals Corporation and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in a $180 million deal[3] that closed on November 6, 2001. Florida Crystals is a privately-held company that is part of FLO-SUN, a sugar empire of the Fanjul Brothers whose origins trace to Spanish-Cuban sugar plantations of the early 19th century.
References
- ^ a b Official Domino Sugar website, with history, products, and other info
- ^ Amstar Corp. v. Domino's Pizza, Inc., 615 F.2d 252, 260 (5th Cir. 1980)
- ^ Biz Journals news article on sale
External links
Categories:- Sugar companies
- Food production companies of the United States
- Companies based in New York
- Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
- Food company stubs
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