Stella D'Oro
Encyclopedia
Stella D'oro is a brand
of cookie
s and breadstick
s owned by Lance Inc.
. Stella D'oro means "star of gold" in Italian
, and the cookies are inspired by Italian baking. Its products include breadstick
s, Swiss Fudge and other cookies, biscotti
, and their S-shaped breakfast treats.
The Stella D'oro Biscuit Company was established in 1932 by Italian immigrant Joseph Kresivich. The family also operated a restaurant next door to its manufacturing facility on West 237th Street at the north end of Kingsbridge in the Bronx
, New York City
. The family in 1992 sold the company for $100 million to Nabisco
, which became part of Kraft Foods
in 2000. In 2006, Kraft sold Stella D'oro to a private equity
firm, Brynwood Partners
, for $17.5 million. Brynwood in turn sold the company to Lance in 2009.
bakeries after his arrival in the U.S. in 1922, and developed his own recipes. He married his wife, Angela, "an expert baker in her own right" in 1928. The two later founded the Stella D'Oro bakery, which evolved into the Stella D'Oro Biscuit Company. Felice L. (Phil) Zambetti later became the company's CEO.
bought the Stella D'Oro Biscuit Co. from Kraft Foods
. On August 14, 2008, two weeks after their contract expired, 138 workers of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union
, Local 50, went on strike citing proposed pay and benefit cuts, and later picketed the company's attempt to bring in replacement workers.
After more than 11 months on striking by its workers, the company was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board
to reinstate the workers, give them back pay, and restart collective bargaining. That same month, the company announced it would close its facility. In September 2009, Brynwood announced the sale of Stella D'Oro to Lance
, a large manufacturer of snack foods, which intended to relocate Stella D'Oro's production to a non-union facility in Ashland, Ohio
.
Brynwood earned negative attention for its role in the work stoppage and sale of Stella d'Oro, including a reference in an op-ed piece by the AFL-CIO
's Richard Trumka, published in The Wall Street Journal
in April 2010.
On September 8, 2009, Lance announced it was purchasing the Stella D'oro brand as well as certain manufacturing equipment and inventory. It thereafter began manufacturing Stella D'oro products in Lance's Ashland, Ohio
, bakery. The Bronx manufacturing location was closed in late fall 2009, and, the physical plant and property went up for sale in spring 2010.
In early September 2010, a 2 to 1 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board affirmed the June 2009 decision of an administrative law judge that Stella D'oro violated federal labor law by refusing to furnish detailed financial statements to the workers' union to support claims of needing contract concessions to survive. The board ordered the company to furnish back pay with interest, as well as benefits for the two-month period after employees offered to return to work in May 2009, and before the company took them back in July.
, New York City
, but this was closed in October 2009 after disputes with labor unions. By late December 2006, the company had moved part of its manufacturing and cookie production to New Jersey.
The company's Swiss fudge cookies being made without milk or butter, Stella D'oro has a devoted following among Orthodox Jews who follow Jewish dietary guidelines. The cookies are nicknamed shtreimel
s, the Yiddish term for round fur hats worn on the Sabbath, and are pareve, a category of kosher food that contains neither meat nor dairy ingredients.
After buying the company, Kraft removed the pareve designation from Stella D'oro's baked products, but returned it after declining sales and complaints.
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
of cookie
Cookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
s and breadstick
Breadstick
Breadsticks are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, dry bread originating in Turin and the surrounding area in Italy. They are originally thought to have been created in the 14th century; according to a local tradition, they would be instead invented by a baker in Lanzo Torinese in 1679...
s owned by Lance Inc.
Lance Inc.
Lance, Inc. is an American snack food company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.They manufacture snacks such as:*Captain's Wafers*Toastchee Crackers*Nekot cookies*Gold-N-Chees crackers*Cape Cod Potato Chips*Tom's Potato Chips*Archway Cookies...
. Stella D'oro means "star of gold" in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, and the cookies are inspired by Italian baking. Its products include breadstick
Breadstick
Breadsticks are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, dry bread originating in Turin and the surrounding area in Italy. They are originally thought to have been created in the 14th century; according to a local tradition, they would be instead invented by a baker in Lanzo Torinese in 1679...
s, Swiss Fudge and other cookies, biscotti
Biscotti
Biscotti more correctly known as biscotti di Prato , also known as cantuccini , are twice-baked biscuits originating in the Italian city of Prato...
, and their S-shaped breakfast treats.
The Stella D'oro Biscuit Company was established in 1932 by Italian immigrant Joseph Kresivich. The family also operated a restaurant next door to its manufacturing facility on West 237th Street at the north end of Kingsbridge in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The family in 1992 sold the company for $100 million to Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
, which became part of Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
in 2000. In 2006, Kraft sold Stella D'oro to a private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firm, Brynwood Partners
Brynwood Partners
Brynwood Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and other control investments.Since its founding in 1984, the firm—headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut—has raised five investment funds, most recently raising a $250 million fund in 2005. Through these funds, the...
, for $17.5 million. Brynwood in turn sold the company to Lance in 2009.
History
Joseph Kresivich, an immigrant from Trieste, Italy, began working in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
bakeries after his arrival in the U.S. in 1922, and developed his own recipes. He married his wife, Angela, "an expert baker in her own right" in 1928. The two later founded the Stella D'Oro bakery, which evolved into the Stella D'Oro Biscuit Company. Felice L. (Phil) Zambetti later became the company's CEO.
Buyout, strike and closing
In 2006, Brynwood PartnersBrynwood Partners
Brynwood Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and other control investments.Since its founding in 1984, the firm—headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut—has raised five investment funds, most recently raising a $250 million fund in 2005. Through these funds, the...
bought the Stella D'Oro Biscuit Co. from Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
. On August 14, 2008, two weeks after their contract expired, 138 workers of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union
The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union is a labor union in the United States and Canada. It has a membership of 100,000...
, Local 50, went on strike citing proposed pay and benefit cuts, and later picketed the company's attempt to bring in replacement workers.
After more than 11 months on striking by its workers, the company was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
to reinstate the workers, give them back pay, and restart collective bargaining. That same month, the company announced it would close its facility. In September 2009, Brynwood announced the sale of Stella D'Oro to Lance
Lance
A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...
, a large manufacturer of snack foods, which intended to relocate Stella D'Oro's production to a non-union facility in Ashland, Ohio
Ashland, Ohio
Ashland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Ashland County. The population was 21,249 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan Statistical Area...
.
Brynwood earned negative attention for its role in the work stoppage and sale of Stella d'Oro, including a reference in an op-ed piece by the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
's Richard Trumka, published in The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
in April 2010.
On September 8, 2009, Lance announced it was purchasing the Stella D'oro brand as well as certain manufacturing equipment and inventory. It thereafter began manufacturing Stella D'oro products in Lance's Ashland, Ohio
Ashland, Ohio
Ashland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Ashland County. The population was 21,249 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, bakery. The Bronx manufacturing location was closed in late fall 2009, and, the physical plant and property went up for sale in spring 2010.
In early September 2010, a 2 to 1 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board affirmed the June 2009 decision of an administrative law judge that Stella D'oro violated federal labor law by refusing to furnish detailed financial statements to the workers' union to support claims of needing contract concessions to survive. The board ordered the company to furnish back pay with interest, as well as benefits for the two-month period after employees offered to return to work in May 2009, and before the company took them back in July.
Operations
Stella D'oro's bakery was located on West 237th Street at the north end of Kingsbridge in the BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, but this was closed in October 2009 after disputes with labor unions. By late December 2006, the company had moved part of its manufacturing and cookie production to New Jersey.
The company's Swiss fudge cookies being made without milk or butter, Stella D'oro has a devoted following among Orthodox Jews who follow Jewish dietary guidelines. The cookies are nicknamed shtreimel
Shtreimel
A shtreimel is a fur hat worn by many married haredi Jewish men, particularly members of Hasidic groups, on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions. In Jerusalem, the shtreimel is also worn by 'Yerushalmi' Jews...
s, the Yiddish term for round fur hats worn on the Sabbath, and are pareve, a category of kosher food that contains neither meat nor dairy ingredients.
After buying the company, Kraft removed the pareve designation from Stella D'oro's baked products, but returned it after declining sales and complaints.