Advertising was instrumental in making Folgers Coffee the number one coffee brand in the United States. This iconic brand of ground, instant, single-use coffee is produced in the United States and sold in Asia, Canada and Mexico. It is part of the food and beverage division of The J. M.
Smucker Company. To ensure that they meet the needs of consumers economically, Folgers has established superior knowledge in buying coffee and are aware of the needs of suppliers. This commitment includes having employees located in major coffee producing regions to help ensure the relationships and transparency needed to deliver on their promise. The process of offering unique flavors derived from different geographies requires time, diligence and passion.
Folgers is proud to produce delicious roasts and varieties for coffee lovers of all tastes. This commitment is maintained at every stage of the process. In January 2021, Procter & Gamble announced that it would split or separate Folgers, as it focused on faster-growing segments such as health and beauty. P&G President and CEO A.
G. Lafley said in a statement that selling the business to Smucker in a tax-free stock deal meets the P&G targets set when it announced plans to divest from Folgers: maximizing the after-tax value of the business for P&G shareholders and minimizing earnings per share dilution. The deal is also better for P&G shareholders than a direct spin-off due to cost savings and other benefits Smucker can gain by combining Folgers with its existing portfolio, Lafley said during a conference call with analysts. The addition of Folgers will add to the products Smucker brings to retailers, allowing more marketing options, said Richard Smucker, president and co-CEO of Smucker. Sales are expected to increase 6 percent annually, in the long term, with gains 8 percent, Smucker said, adding that it will continue to look for acquisitions to help drive sales. The forerunner of Folger Coffee Company was founded in 1850 in San Francisco, California as Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills.
Taking over the reins of the company in 1889, James Folger II took Folgers Coffee National, using his roasted coffee in bulk to spread the name across the country. In connection with that merger, the outstanding shares of Folgers were converted into Smucker shares. Folgers promoted their instant coffee in advertisements in the 1970s and early 1980s that took viewers to several “high-end” restaurants while a voiceover (by Bryan Clark) whispered to viewers that they had secretly traded the coffee used in the restaurant for Folgers, and they saw customers of the restaurants see if they could tell whether or not they noticed the difference. To hear the Smucker brothers tell it, Folgers was everything they were looking for in an acquisition and more. It was a faithful meeting of two business-minded people and would lead to the creation of Folgers Coffee. The reverse structure of Morris Trust allowed Procter & Gamble to sell its Folgers business in a tax-efficient manner (distribution and merger were tax-free for Procter & Gamble and its shareholders) in a business combination transaction with a strategic acquirer. In the 1900s, Folgers Coffee built new roasting and packaging plants in Texas and Kansas City, the latter still operating today.
Originally created in 1984 by Bill Vernick, Susan Spiegel Solovay (who is now perhaps a “life coach and medical hypnotist”), and Leslie Pearl, a singer-songwriter who has written songs for Kenny Rogers and Karen Carpenter, “The Best Part of Wakin' Up” is indisputably one of Folger's best advertisements ever published. Jones Day advised The Procter & Gamble Company in the divestment of its Folgers coffee business made through a reverse share transaction of Morris Trust with The J. When the deal was closed, the Folgers entity merged with a subsidiary of Smucker surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary.
