Gerber
Products Company is a purveyor
of baby food and baby products headquartered in Florham
Park , New Jersey , with plans to
relocate to Arlington , Virginia White
Plains , New York
Gerber was founded in 1927 inFremont , Michigan
Some believe that Dorothy Gerber was the initial inspiration behind their baby food products. One day after a visit to her infant daughter's pediatrician she toiled in the kitchen straining fruits and vegetables for her child. After much hard work she suggested to her husband Daniel, whose family already owned the Fremont Canning Company, to create this food in an industrial setting, lightening the load of mothers everywhere. A different interpretation of the story is that he was frustrated and upset having come home to find his wife looking strained and miserable in the kitchen. Not wanting to "exchange" his beautiful wife for this kitchen-bound monstrosity, he then invented the Gerber baby food product line.
In 1994 Gerber merged with Sandoz Laboratories. Two years later, Sandoz merged with CIBA-Geigy to form Novartis, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In 2007 Gerber was sold to Nestlé for $5.5 billion.
The brand eventually became a major company in the baby food industry, currently offering more than 190 products in 80 countries, with labeling in 16 languages. Its primary competitors are Beech-Nut and Del Monte Foods. As of 2017, Gerber controls 61 percent of the baby food market in theUnited States
Product Diversification
In 1960 Gerber started selling its baby food in glass jars, which often found new life as household storage, especially in home workshops. Soon after, other items such as pacifiers, baby bottles, and small baby toys were introduced. In 2003 Gerber partially replaced the glass jars with plastic tubs for vegetables and some fruits. Other fruits and meats are still sold in jars.
In 1967 executives at Gerber Products decided to offer a line of life insurance products aimed at young families. Today, the Gerber Life Insurance Company is one of the largest purveyors of direct-marketed life insurance in theUnited States United
States , Puerto Rico, and most of Canada
Early in the 1990s, Gerber tried to enter into the sugar-free food market with a Sugar Free Vanilla Custard flavor, favorable to diabetic babies. The product did not see as much demand as expected, so it was dropped after a few years. Gerber also began to produce juices, which are still being sold as of March 2009. In 1999 Gerber established skincare products for babies.
Other Gerber products currently produced include breastfeeding supplies, such as the Premium Feeding System Manual Massaging Pump, as well as baby bottles and nipples. They also market a line of health care products, including Tooth and Gum Cleanser and Vitamin Drops.
Consumer Relations
Gerber has a long history of projecting a family-friendly image. When Gerber Products established a consumer relations department in 1938, then ten-year-old Sally Gerber began answering each customer's letter individually, a practice she would continue for many years, even after she became a senior vice president of the company. In 1986 the company set up the Gerber Parents' Resource Center, a toll-free customer relations hotline, which has been providing information on baby food and parenting issues ever since.
History of the Company
Gerber was founded in 1927 in
Some believe that Dorothy Gerber was the initial inspiration behind their baby food products. One day after a visit to her infant daughter's pediatrician she toiled in the kitchen straining fruits and vegetables for her child. After much hard work she suggested to her husband Daniel, whose family already owned the Fremont Canning Company, to create this food in an industrial setting, lightening the load of mothers everywhere. A different interpretation of the story is that he was frustrated and upset having come home to find his wife looking strained and miserable in the kitchen. Not wanting to "exchange" his beautiful wife for this kitchen-bound monstrosity, he then invented the Gerber baby food product line.
In 1994 Gerber merged with Sandoz Laboratories. Two years later, Sandoz merged with CIBA-Geigy to form Novartis, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In 2007 Gerber was sold to Nestlé for $5.5 billion.
The brand eventually became a major company in the baby food industry, currently offering more than 190 products in 80 countries, with labeling in 16 languages. Its primary competitors are Beech-Nut and Del Monte Foods. As of 2017, Gerber controls 61 percent of the baby food market in the
Product Diversification
In 1960 Gerber started selling its baby food in glass jars, which often found new life as household storage, especially in home workshops. Soon after, other items such as pacifiers, baby bottles, and small baby toys were introduced. In 2003 Gerber partially replaced the glass jars with plastic tubs for vegetables and some fruits. Other fruits and meats are still sold in jars.
In 1967 executives at Gerber Products decided to offer a line of life insurance products aimed at young families. Today, the Gerber Life Insurance Company is one of the largest purveyors of direct-marketed life insurance in the
Early in the 1990s, Gerber tried to enter into the sugar-free food market with a Sugar Free Vanilla Custard flavor, favorable to diabetic babies. The product did not see as much demand as expected, so it was dropped after a few years. Gerber also began to produce juices, which are still being sold as of March 2009. In 1999 Gerber established skincare products for babies.
Other Gerber products currently produced include breastfeeding supplies, such as the Premium Feeding System Manual Massaging Pump, as well as baby bottles and nipples. They also market a line of health care products, including Tooth and Gum Cleanser and Vitamin Drops.
Consumer Relations
Gerber has a long history of projecting a family-friendly image. When Gerber Products established a consumer relations department in 1938, then ten-year-old Sally Gerber began answering each customer's letter individually, a practice she would continue for many years, even after she became a senior vice president of the company. In 1986 the company set up the Gerber Parents' Resource Center, a toll-free customer relations hotline, which has been providing information on baby food and parenting issues ever since.
Gerber Baby
According to
Gerber, Ann Turner Cook is the famous Gerber baby whose portrait is featured
prominently on all Gerber product packaging. Cook is now a retired teacher and
mystery writer. She was depicted in a charcoal sketch by her neighbor, Dorothy
Hope Smith. Smith entered the sketch for the company's logo contest. A huge
draw to the image of the Gerber baby is largely due to the fact that this baby
is alone, not in the presence of adults, innocently peering straight into the
eyes of the consumer. This innocent outward gaze was surely a marketing, if not
psychological, technique to suck in female "mother-consumers". This
forced many mothers to seek the happiness of their own child via the eyes of
the iconic Gerber baby. Thus the notion that if their babies were fed Gerber,
they would also be as content, smiley, and "cute" as the Gerber baby.
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