American food manufacturing company
Burry's is a food manufacturer, founded as Burry's Biscuit Corporation by George W. Burry[2] in 1888 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.[1] It became a division of the Quaker Oats Company in 1962.[3] The company was one of the manufacturers of Girl Scout cookies from 1936 until 1989.[4]
History
Burry's Biscuit Corporation
Burry Biscuit dates to 1888, when Christina Burry began manufacturing cookies in Toronto,[5] then restructured by George W. Burry into the Burry Biscuit Corporation in 1933, based in Chicago before moving to Elizabeth, New Jersey.[6][7] It manufactured Girl Scout Cookies, which it called Plantation cookies. The cookies were packed in a sealed cardboard cylinder, and later the cookies were packed in cans.[8] The company began manufacturing Girl Scout cookies in 1936.[4]
In 1944, Burry's manufactured Girl Scout Cookies including "Thin Mints", a sugared shortbread cookie called "Scot-Teas", and "Savannahs", an oatmeal sandwich cookie with peanut butter filling.
In 1944, the Burry Biscuit expanded into cleaning and hygiene products.[2] As of 1946, the company produced pretzels and pioneered a machine-made pretzel to automate the process.[9]
In 1950, Burry's Biscuit Corporation purchased Independent Biscuits Inc. of Davenport, Iowa for $125,000. Burry's continued to operate Independent Biscuits as a division of Burry's.[10] On March 29, 1954, the company purchased LeRoy Foods, a Brooklyn-based food company.[11] It also purchased Empire Biscuit around the same time. These two purchases doubled Burry's sales.[12] Around 1960 Burry Biscuit purchased Cal-Ray Bakeries, a baking corporation based in the Western United States.[7] In January 1962[12] the company became a division of Quaker Oats Company,[6] in a takeover valued at around $25,000,000.[13] At the time of purchase, Burry Biscuit had 1,600 employees, profits of around $730,000 on revenue of $22,525,874, and offered over 40 products.[7]
In 1962, Burry's was the largest producer of Girl Scout cookies in the nation. One of their marketing managers, J.R. McAllister Borie, is credited with popularizing the 'Thin Mint Cookie'.[14] In 1980, the food division of Burry's was sold to Générale Biscuit and its name was changed to Burry-Lu, to reflect LU, Générale Biscuit's international brand.[15][16] In 1985, Burry-Lu and the Salerno-Megowen Biscuit Company were merged, forming General Biscuit Brands. The new company produced 13,000 tons of food, and 30% of Girl Scout cookies.[5] In 1989, ABC Cookie Bakers purchased Burry's Girl Scout cookie division.[4] In 1991, the rest of the company was purchased by Sunshine Biscuits.[17]
Burry's Foods
The "Gaucho" peanut butter sandwich cookie produced by Burry was the same cookie as the Savannah, produced for the consumer market ; Gauchos came in a coarse cardstock box that was covered in a wax-coated paper label. These cookies had a small hole in the oatmeal wafer top that allowed any excess peanut butter filling to escape during production, thereby avoiding the filling being pushed out between the cookie layer sides.
A small retail store offered baked-that-day but broken/defective cookies in bulk for discounts. A shopping-bag-size bag of thin mints cost $1.00.
The Scooter Pie consisted of two large round graham cracker cookies with a thick layer of marshmallow between and coated with chocolate, similar to the Moon Pie or choco pie.
Per Candy and Snack Industry it was a recognized leader in the cookie and cracker business.[18]
They had a diverse list of products. These included Burry's Tart and Entree Shells, Burry's Gourmet Crackers and Cookies, and Famous Euphrates Wafers and Shells, Burry's Vended Cookies and Snacks[19] The company claimed the "secret" of its process was "Slow baking".[20]
See also
References
Further reading
External links
