Ralcorp

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title: "Ralcorp" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["food-manufacturers-of-the-united-states", "holding-companies-of-the-united-states", "ralston-purina", "baking-mixes", "manufacturing-companies-based-in-st.-louis", "american-companies-established-in-1994", "food-and-drink-companies-established-in-1994", "holding-companies-established-in-1994", "1994-establishments-in-missouri", "conagra-brands-brands", "companies-formerly-listed-on-the-new-york-stock-exchange", "2013-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2016-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2021-mergers-and-acquisitions", "corporate-spin-offs", "post-holdings"] description: "Manufacturer of various food products" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralcorp" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Manufacturer of various food products ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Ralcorp Holdings, Inc.
native_name	TreeHouse Private Brands, Inc.
native_name_lang
logo	Ralcorp.svg
logo_size	125px
type	Subsidiary of Post Holdings
predecessor
successor
founder
defunct
key_people	Richard Koulouris (VP and President)
industry	Food production
genre
products	Private brand foods sold under the individual labels of various grocery, mass merchandise and drugstore retailers, and frozen bakery products sold to in-store bakeries, restaurants and other foodservice customers
aum
owner
intl
foundation	in St. Louis, Missouri (spun off from Ralston Purina)
location_city	Bank of America Plaza
St. Louis, Missouri
location_country	United States
locations
website
::

| name = Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. | native_name = TreeHouse Private Brands, Inc. | native_name_lang =
| romanized_name = | trading_name = | logo = Ralcorp.svg | logo_size = 125px | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | logo_padding = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | type = Subsidiary of Post Holdings | traded_as = | ISIN = | predecessor =
| successor =
| founder =
| defunct =
| fate = | area_served = | key_people = Richard Koulouris (VP and President) | industry = Food production | genre =
| products = Private brand foods sold under the individual labels of various grocery, mass merchandise and drugstore retailers, and frozen bakery products sold to in-store bakeries, restaurants and other foodservice customers | brands = | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum =
| assets = | equity = | owner =
| members = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | footnotes = | intl =
| coordinates = | former_name = | foundation = in St. Louis, Missouri (spun off from Ralston Purina)
| location_city = Bank of America Plaza St. Louis, Missouri | location_country = United States | locations = | website = Ralcorp Holdings is an American manufacturer of various food products, including breakfast cereal, cookies, crackers, chocolate, snack foods, mayonnaise, pasta, and peanut butter. The company is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The majority of the items Ralcorp makes are private-label, store-brand products. It has over 9,000 employees. Ralcorp has its headquarters in the Bank of America Plaza in downtown St. Louis.

History and description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/1922_Ralston_whole_wheat_cereal_ad.png" caption="A 1922 newspaper advertisement for Ralston Whole Wheat cereal"] ::

Originally part of Ralston Purina, the Ralston name was more associated with food for humans; soda crackers and a farina cereal, among other products, were marketed under this name. Ralcorp can trace its ancestry to 1898 when William H. Danforth of Purina Mills, which made animal feeds, began making breakfast cereal. He sought and received the endorsement of Webster Edgerly (Dr. Ralston) who founded the Ralstonism social movement. Ralston cereal became so successful that Purina Mills was renamed Ralston Purina in 1902. Ralston Purina also for many years produced the familiar line of Chex and Cookie Crisp cold breakfast cereals. The animal and human food businesses were seemingly only tenuously related. In 1994, the human food business was spun off to Ralcorp Holdings, operating as Ralston Foods, which then sold its branded breakfast cereal lineup to General Mills and its Continental Baking division (Wonder Bread and Twinkies) to Interstate Bakeries. The Purina part of the company is now split. The pet-food company sold to Nestlé is now called Nestlé Purina PetCare. The livestock-feed company is called Purina Mills, LLC, and is a unit of Land O'Lakes. Ralcorp manufactures many store-brand foods that are sold in grocery outlets across the United States under the retailers' private labels. In late 2007, Ralcorp signed an agreement with Kraft Foods to acquire the Post Cereals brands, thus returning to the major-branded cereal business. The acquisition was completed August 4, 2008. Another brand name product Ralcorp makes and markets is Ry-Krisp crisp bread.

Purchase by ConAgra

In 2011, Ralcorp received an offer for the company from ConAgra Foods. Ralcorp resisted the attempt. Ralcorp also announced it was spinning off its Post Foods unit. The spinoff was completed in 2012. On November 27, 2012, ConAgra officials announced they were purchasing Ralcorp, pending Ralcorp shareholder approval, for about $4.95 billion. Stockholders of Ralcorp Holdings Inc. would receive $90 per share. The acquisition was completed in January 2013. The acquisition made ConAgra the largest private-label packaged food business in the United States at that time.

Purchase by TreeHouse Foods, Inc

On February 1, 2016, TreeHouse Foods announced that it completed the acquisition of ConAgra Foods' private brands operations. "TreeHouse paid $2.7 billion in cash plus transaction expenses for the business and financed the transaction through the closing of its previously announced offerings of $775 million in aggregate principal senior notes due 2024 with a 6.0% annual interest rate and common stock issuance of 13.3 million shares at a price of $65 per share (which includes the exercise, in full, of the overallotment option), aggregating $862.5 million in gross proceeds. The remainder of the purchase price was financed under the Company's revolving credit facility." The rumor of the deal broke in October 2015. According to a FoodProcessing.com article from 10/23/2015:"TreeHouse Foods is rumored to be in advanced talks to purchase the Ralcorp business from ConAgra Foods in a deal valued at $2.5- to $2.7 billion, according to a report from Reuters." This was a huge loss from the $5.1 Billion ConAgra paid for Ralcorp two years earlier.

Purchase by Post Holdings

On June 1, 2021, Post Holdings announced it acquired the ready-to-eat ("RTE") cereal business of TreeHouse Foods.

Subsidiaries

• American Italian Pasta Company (acquired 2010)
• Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products
  • Bakery Chef (acquired 2003)
  • Cottage Bakery (acquired 2006)
  • Earl of Sandwich frozen breads
  • Krusteaz frozen products (acquired from Continental Mills in 1999 by Bakery Chef)
  • Lofthouse Foods (acquired 2002)
  • Panne Provincio
• Ralcorp Snacks, Sauces and Spreads
  • Bremner Food Group (acquired 1978)
  • Carriage House Companies (formed 2000)
• Ralston Foods
  • Bloomfield Bakers/Lovin Oven LLC (acquired 2009)

References

References

1. "Symbol Lookup from Yahoo! Finance".
2. "TreeHouse Foods - Welcome".
3. 1-58046-098-4
4. "Pushing Pet Nutrition Forward - Purina® Pet Food & Products".
5. (15 August 1996). "General Mills To Add Chex In Cereal Wars". The New York Times.
6. (7 January 1995). "Ralston Selling Continental Baking to Interstate". The New York Times.
7. "Ralcorp Announces Completion of Post Cereals Merger". Ralcorp Holdings, Inc..
8. Boyle, Matthew. (July 14, 2011). "Ralcorp to Spin Off Post Foods After Failing to Find Buyer". Bloomberg.
9. (February 6, 2012). "Ralcorp Completes Separation of Post Cereals Business". Ralcorp Holdings, Inc..
10. "ConAgra Foods Completes Acquisition of Ralcorp - News Room - ConAgra Foods". conagrafoods.
11. (November 27, 2012). "ConAgra Foods to make big purchase". Associated Press via KTVO-TV.
12. Inc., TreeHouse Foods. "TreeHouse Foods Completes the Acquisition of ConAgra's Private Brands Business".
13. Hartman, Lauren R.. "TreeHouse Foods In Talks to Buy ConAgra's Ralcorp".
14. "Post buys TreeHouse Foods' ready-to-eat cereal business for $85M".
15. (2010-06-21). "Ralcorp to buy American Italian Pasta for $1.2 billion". Reuters.
16. (2010-06-21). "Ralcorp to Buy American Italian Pasta". The New York Times.
17. "TreeHouse Foods Frozen - Home".
18. (December 14, 2013). "The deal: Ralcorp Holdings Inc. acquires Bakery Chef". St. Louis Business Journal.
19. Reed Fujii. "Lodi's Cottage Bakery sells for $170.8 million". recordnet.com.
20. "Ralcorp Frozen - Premium Deli Breads".
21. "Earl of Sandwich premium deli breads". ralcorpfrozen.com.
22. "Ralcorp Frozen - Home".
23. (January 10, 2000}} {{Dead link). "Bakery Chef acquisitions fuel growth". St. Louis Business Journal.
24. "TreeHouse Foods - Welcome".
25. Ralston Foods. "Ralston Foods".
26. "Bloomfield Bakers - Cookies, Cereals, Crackers, Bars, Mixes".

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