Pillsbury

Pillsbury is a brand name used by The J. M. Smucker Company and Minneapolis-based General Mills. Historically, however, Pillsbury was a rival company also based in Minneapolis that was one of the world's largest producers of grain and other foodstuffs until its acquisition by General Mills in 2000. Antitrust regulations required General Mills to sell off some of the products. General Mills kept the rights to refrigerated and frozen Pillsbury products, while dry baking products and frosting are now are sold by Smucker under license. The Pillsbury brand might have disappeared if not for the iconic Pillsbury Doughboy.

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C.A. Pillsbury and Company was founded in 1872 by Charles Alfred Pillsbury and his uncle John Sargent Pillsbury. The company was the first in the United States to use steam rollers for processing grain. The finished product required transportation, so the Pillsburys assisted in funding railroad development in Minnesota.

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In 1889, Pillsbury and its five mills on the banks of the Mississippi River were purchased by a British company. The company also tried to purchase and merge with the Washburn Crosby Company (a precursor of General Mills), but the strong rivalry prevented any merger from happening at the time. The Pillsbury family reacquired the company in 1923. In 1989, the British company Grand Metropolitan purchased the food maker. A decade later, the old rivals merged. However, the baking products division was sold to International Multifoods Corporation, which was later acquired by Smucker's.

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Pillsbury once claimed to have the largest grain mill in the world at the Pillsbury "A" Mill overlooking Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. The building had two of the most powerful direct-drive waterwheels ever built, each putting out 1200 horsepower (895 kW). There are now plans to convert it into a loft-style apartment building.

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Brand: This article is about the concept in marketing. For other uses, see Brand (disambiguation)...

The J. M. Smucker Company: redirect The J.M. Smucker Co....

General Mills: General Mills is a corporation, mainly concerned with food products, that is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets such brands as Betty Crocker, Nestlé, Yoplait, and Pillsbury, as well as numerous well-known breakfast cereals (see below)....