- Bimbo Bakeries USA
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Bimbo Bakeries USA 
Type subsidiary Industry Food processing Founded Fort Worth, Texas, United States (1998) Headquarters Horsham, Pennsylvania, United States Number of locations 251 outlet stores Area served United States Key people Gary J. Prince (President and CEO Products Bread products, candies, pastries etc. Revenue $3.9 Billion USD Operating income $332.8 Million USD Total assets $4.0 Billion USD Owner(s) Grupo Bimbo Employees 15,000 Website www.bimbobakeries.com Bimbo Bakeries USA is the American corporate arm of Mexico's Grupo Bimbo. It is the largest bakery company in the United States, owning six of the top twelve fresh bread brands in the United States. The name means baby in Italian and does not mean anything in Spanish. The pronunciation is given on packaging as "Beembo" to distinguish it from the American slang term "bimbo". Both derive from the same word in Italian but does not have a negative connotation in Spanish.
Contents
History
Grupo Bimbo initially entered the U.S. market with the purchase of Pacific Pride Bakeries in 1996. At the time, Pacific Pride Bakeries was the largest independent baker in the San Diego area. The current company, Bimbo Bakeries USA, was established in 1998 when Grupo Bimbo purchased Mrs. Baird's Bakeries in Texas, which at the time was the largest family owned bakery in the United States, and merged it with the former Pacific Pride Bakeries. In 2002, Grupo Bimbo made another acquisition when it purchased 5 plants in California, Texas, Colorado, and Oregon. The purchase also gave Bimbo Bakeries USA the right to such brands as Oroweat, Entenmann's, Thomas' English Bagels, and Boboli pizza kits in the western United States (the rights in the eastern USA at the time were owned by George Weston Limited).
Nationwide expansion
On December 10, 2008, it was announced that Grupo Bimbo was in negotiations to purchase WFI (Weston Foods Inc.) a subsidiary of George Weston Ltd. for $2.38 billion, a purchase that would make Bimbo Bakeries USA the largest bakery company in the USA. The purchase was finalized on January 21, 2009. The acquisition added brands such as Arnold, Brownberry, Freihofer's, Stroehmann, and gave Bimbo the rights to the Weston brands in the eastern United States (it had controlled the Weston brands in the western United States since 2002). The purchase also added 22 more factories and 4,000 delivery trucks, giving Bimbo Bakeries USA 35 factories and over 7,000 sales routes in the United States, along with a footprint in all of the lower 48 states and almost US$4 billion in annual sales.[1][2] The Weston Foods headquarters in Horsham, Pennsylvania (just outside Philadelphia) became the new headquarters for Bimbo's USA operations, relocating from Fort Worth, Texas, once the deal closed.[3]
In an effort to increase their national exposure, on January 11, 2011, Bimbo announced a four year partnership agreement making them the official jersey sponsor of the Philadelphia Union, the MLS team local to their national headquarters. The Union sponsorship agreement marks the fifth professional soccer team sponsored by Bimbo; the parent company Grupo Bimbo sponsors the following four teams: Club América, C.D. Guadalajara and C.F. Monterrey of the Primera División de México teams, as well as C.D. Saprissa of Costa Rica. The deal also makes Bimbo the official bread and baked goods sponsor of both the Union and MLS. Bimbo will also become an official sponsor of MLS, opening MLS League and Club marketing assets, such as stadium signage, to them.[4] The sponsorship deal is valued at roughly US$12 million over the four year period.[5]
Sara Lee Acquisition
On November 9, 2010, Grupo Bimbo announced that it has agreed to acquire the North American Fresh Bakery business of the Sara Lee Corporation. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory review, would combine the largest and third largest baking companies in the United States, as measured by annual sales. The deal is reported as costing US$959 Million. This acquisition will leave Bimbo Bakeries USA with 75 bakeries in 31 states, serving the entire continental United States through more than 13,000 sales routes.
The acquisition would bring approximately US$2.1 Billion in sales to Bimbo Bakeries USA, for a rough total of US$6 Billion. This would make Bimbo Bakeries USA more than twice twice as large the number two bakery company in the United States, Flowers Foods.
Sara Lee Corp. acquired its fresh baked division in 2001 with the acquisition of Earthgrains for a then industry record of US$2.8 Billion. This sale represents a 66% discount.
In an announcement made to the media by Gary Prince, President of Bimbo Bakeries, he stated, "This transaction demonstrates Grupo Bimbo's commitment and singular focus on baking.Our goal is to build a U.S. bakery business that provides the highest quality products and best value to customers and consumers."[6]
This acquisition will bring together Sara Lee's successful Soft & Smooth line of product with other national brands such as Oroweat/Arnold.
Main brands
- Arnold/Oroweat – Producer of loaf bread primarily sold throughout the United States.
- Bimbo – Producing cakes and bread. Bimbo breads and cakes are found in major United States cities with large Mexican and Mexican-American populations.
- Boboli – Producer of ready-made pizza crusts.
- Entenmann's – Pastry baker in the United States.
- Marinela – Producer of Mexican cookies.
- Mrs. Baird's – A leading bakery primarily present in Texas and surrounding states.
- Stroehmann's – With Oroweat above, a producer of loaf bread in the United States.
- Thomas' – Producer of English muffins and bagels.
- Tía Rosa – Producer of home-style bread, pastry, and tortillas.
Criticisms
The company has been cited for numerous worker safety violations, as well as failure to report worker injuries to California's Division of Occupational Health and Safety.[7]
References
- ^ "Compra Bimbo WFI en 2,380 mdd; será una de las panificadoras más grandes en EU [Bimbo buys WFI at 2.380 million dollars, will be one of the largest bakeries in the U.S.]" (in Spanish). Invertia (Mexico). December 10, 2008. http://economia.terra.com.co/noticias/noticia.aspx?idNoticia=200812101423_TRM_77687389.
- ^ Hugh Collins and Andres R. Martinez (December 10, 2008). "Grupo Bimbo Buys Weston Bread Unit for $2.4 Billion". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a9555nprwm4A.
- ^ "Bimbo Bakeries moves U.S. headquarters from Fort Worth". Dallas Business Journal. 2009-03-03. http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/03/02/daily27.html. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
- ^ Baking company signs on as official bread and baked goods sponsor of the Union and MLS, Philadelphia Union, January 11, 2011, http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/news/2011/01/union-partner-bimbo-bakeries-official-jersey-sponsor, retrieved January 11, 2011
- ^ Gammage, Jeff (January 11, 2011), Union soccer team wins sponsorship from Bimbo bakery, The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20110111_Union_soccer_team_wins_sponsorship_from_Bimbo_bakery.html, retrieved January 11, 2011
- ^ "Bimbo to acquire Sara Lee fresh baking business (requires free registration)". Baking Business (United States). November 9, 2010. http://www.bakingbusiness.com/News/News%20Home/Business/2010/11/Bimbo%20to%20acquire%20Sara%20Lee%20fresh%20baking%20business.aspx.
- ^ "Worker loses part of finger at firm cited for safety violations Nine Bimbo Bakeries workers have had parts of digits or a limb amputated since 2003 at plants across the state, where regulators have found inadequate training and machines without proper guarding. - Los Angeles Times". LA Times. 2010-09-26. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/26/local/la-me-bimbo-20100926. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
External links
Categories:- Bakeries of the United States
- Companies based in Pennsylvania
- Companies established in 1996
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