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Burry's
Founded1888[1] in Elizabeth, New Jersey[1]
Headquarters1750 East Main Street, Suite 260, Saint Charles, IL 60174 U.S.
Key people
George W. Burry[2]
Products
Cookies, donuts, bagels, muffins, pizza, croutons, English muffins, artificial sweeteners
WebsiteBurry's

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

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Burry's Biscuit Corporation

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "About Burry Foods". Burryfoods. Burryfoods.com. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "George W. Burry Official; Founder of Cookie Concern in New Jersey Dies at 63 Concern Was Expanded Old Recipes Saved". The New York Times. 3 October 1963. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. ^ "George W. Burry Dies". Oakland Tribune. 3 October 1963. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Staff, Laurie Whitmore. "GIRL SCOUTS BIG HIT IN THE BOX SCORES". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  5. ^ a b "General Biscuit Brands: Founded on a Century of Quality Baking". Business Journal of New Jersey. 5 (6).
  6. ^ a b "George W. Burry, Biscuit Firm Head". The Herald-News. 1963-10-03. p. 37. Retrieved 2020-08-04 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ a b c "Quaker Oats Eyes Burry Biscuit Co.; Concern Would Buy Baking Company With Its Stock Companies Plan Sales, Mergers". The New York Times. 1961-07-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  8. ^ "Burry's Biscuit Corporation". vintagegirlscout.com. VintageGirlScout.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Pretzel Institute Headed by Norval Postweiler". Blue Island Sun Standard. 28 November 1946. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Davenport Baking Firm is Sold". Burlington Hawk Eye Gazette. 4 November 1950. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Burry Biscuit Corp. Buying Leroy Foods". The New York Times. 1954-03-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  12. ^ a b Technical Study No.6: Studies of Organization and Competition in Grocery Manufacturing. United States National Commission on Food Marketing. 1966. p. 88.
  13. ^ "Quaker Oats Set to Acquire Burry; Directors Approve Proposal". The New York Times. 1961-09-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  14. ^ Cook, Bonnie L. "J.R. McAllister Borie, 86, popularized Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  15. ^ Prepared Foods. Gorman Publishing Company. May 1985.
  16. ^ "International Company News Quaker Oats". The Globe and Mail. 18 December 1980.
  17. ^ "Cookie Concern Is Acquired from U.S. Unit of Artal". The Wall Street Journal. 28 January 1991.
  18. ^ "Candy and Snack Industry". Vol. 136, no. 1–6. Magazines for Industry, Incorporated. 1971. p. 43.
  19. ^ "Means Quality". Volume Feeding Institutions. 72: 38. 1973.
  20. ^ "Commercial Preview: Burry's Cookies". Broadcasting. 67: 34. 1964.

Further reading

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