Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek , it was named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee , which was its first major customer. For nearly 100 years, until the late 1980s, it was the highest-selling coffee brand in the United States. The company's slogan is "Good to the last drop," which is often incorporated into its logo and is printed on its labels.
44-412: Maxwell House coffee has been owned and produced by several companies, starting with Cheek's company, Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company, then followed by General Foods and Kraft Foods Inc. In 1884, Joel Cheek moved to Nashville and met Roger Nolley Smith, a British coffee broker. He was said to be able to tell the origin of a coffee simply by smelling the green beans. Over the next few years,
88-490: A barn on what was known as the 'Old Beardsley Farm'. His first product was Postum , a "cereal beverage" alternative to coffee made from wheat and molasses. The first cereal, Grape-Nuts , was developed in 1897 followed by Elijah's Manna in 1904 which was renamed Post Toasties in 1908. In 1907 Collier's Weekly published an article questioning the claim made in advertisements for Grape Nuts that it could cure appendicitis . C. W. Post responded with advertisements questioning
132-738: A bean) and was, consequently, kosher for Passover. Maxwell House was the first coffee roaster to target a Jewish demographic. The Maxwell House Haggadah was also the Haggadah of choice for the annual White House Passover Seder which President Barack Obama conducted during his presidency from 2009 to 2016. Of its major manufacturing facilities, the third was established by Maxwell House in Jacksonville, Florida . This continues as its single operating plant today. The company first produced its coffee in Hoboken, New Jersey ; this plant closed in
176-558: A commercially viable process for quick-freezing foods using a belt mechanism, which he patented. In 1924, with backing from three investors, he formed the "General Seafoods Company" in Gloucester, Massachusetts to produce frozen haddock fillets packed in plain cardboard boxes. The founder's daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, was the first to become excited about the prospects for the frozen foods business. In 1926, she had put into port at Gloucester on her yacht, Sea Cloud , and
220-405: A cooking appliance used to brew coffee . While there are many different types of coffeemakers, the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water through coffee grounds. In the most common devices, coffee grounds are placed into a paper or metal filter inside a funnel, which is set over a glass or ceramic coffee pot , a cooking pot in the kettle family. Cold water
264-512: A cup of Maxwell House coffee, though these segments, aired toward the end of each episode, were usually kept separate from the main storyline. Early television programs were frequently packaged by the advertising agencies of individual sponsors. As this practice became less common in the late 1950s, Maxwell House, like most national brands, turned to "spot" advertising, with agencies creating sometimes long-running campaigns in support of their products. One such 1970s campaign for Maxwell House featured
308-488: A great deal of space and electricity, which were not readily available in most grocery stores of the period. For those stores that could accommodate them, the payback was immediate. Housewives quickly realized that keeping packages of frozen food in the icebox could mean fresher meals and fewer trips to the market. The company published a cookbook in 1932 called the General Foods Cook Book dedicated "To
352-466: A slight loss. Shortly after the acquisition, General Foods began test-marketing an expanded line of frozen foods , but the company quickly realized that a packaging process alone would not be sufficient to market frozen products in stores. To be sold, the packages had to be kept frozen while on display, so Birdseye engineers began development of a freezer cabinet designed specifically to hold frozen foods. The cabinet, which first appeared in 1934, required
396-546: A story concerning Roosevelt and the cup of coffee he drank features a quote that does not resemble the slogan. He is quoted as saying: "This is the kind of stuff I like to drink, by George, when I hunt bears." The Maxwell House Company claimed in its advertising that the Roosevelt story was true. In 2009, Maxwell House ran a commercial featuring Roosevelt repriser Joe Wiegand , who tells the "Last Drop" story. In 1942 during World War II, General Foods Corporation , successor to
440-414: Is now marketed in ground and measured forms, as well as in whole-bean, flavored, and varietal blends. A higher-yield ground coffee, Maxwell House Master Blend, was introduced in 1981. Rich French Roast; Colombian Supreme, described as being 100% Colombian coffee ; and 1892, described as a slow-roasted formulation, were all brought out in 1989, to compete in the increasingly competitive coffee market. In 1992,
484-399: Is poured into a separate chamber, which is then boiled and directed into the funnel and allowed to drip through the grounds under gravity. This is also called automatic drip-brew . Coffee makers that use pressure to force water through the coffee grounds are called espresso makers, and they produce espresso coffee. On 27 August 1930, Inez H. Peirce of Chicago, Illinois, filed her patent for
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#1732780966235528-568: The Postum Company established by Charles William Post , contracted to supply instant coffee to the U.S. armed forces. Beginning in the fall of 1945, this product, which by that time had come to be branded as Maxwell House Instant Coffee, entered test markets in the eastern U.S.; it began national distribution the following year The Yuban brand (sometimes Yule brand) was John Arbuckle ' s name for his personal mix of fresh coffees for Christmas gifts. In 1935, Arbuckle Brothers Company,
572-542: The American homemaker". Five editions were published between 1932 and 1937. The book includes photographs (among which is "General Foods offers over twenty famous products for your well-stocked pantry shelf") and a subject index. General Foods acquired the Perkins Product Company, the makers of Kool-Aid , in 1953, Burger Chef in 1968, Oscar Mayer in 1981, Entenmann's in 1982, Oroweat in 1984, and
616-550: The Freihofer baking company in 1987. The company then sold Burger Chef to Imasco , owner of Hardee's , in 1981. General Foods was acquired by Philip Morris Companies (now Altria) in 1985. In 1989, Phillip Morris merged General Foods with Kraft Foods Inc., which it had acquired in 1987, to form the Kraft General Foods division. The cereal brands of Nabisco were acquired in 1993. In 1995 Kraft General Foods
660-470: The Houston plant to Maximus Coffee Group LP in late 2006. In March 2007, the neon coffee cup sign that glowed over the city's east end was removed from the side of the 16-story coffee roaster building and the plant closed in 2018. The San Leandro plant closed in 2016 and was slated to become the site of a business park. General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor
704-561: The Maxwell House brand in 1925. By the 1930s, the company was running advertisements that claimed that the former president had taken a sip of Maxwell House Coffee on a visit to Andrew Jackson 's estate, The Hermitage , near Nashville on October 21, 1907, and when served the coffee, he proclaimed it to be "good to the last drop". During this time, Coca-Cola also used the slogan "Good to the last drop". Later, Maxwell House distanced itself from that 1930s advertising claim, admitting that
748-716: The Post Cereal Company, founded by C. W. Post in 1895 in Battle Creek, Michigan . Post was a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium (run by John Harvey Kellogg , brother of Kellogg Company founder Will Keith Kellogg ). Post was inspired by the diet there to start his food company (and become a rival to the Kellogg brothers, who sold their own breakfast cereals). He invested $ 78 in his initial equipment and supplies and set up manufacturing in
792-480: The West Coast introduction of Yuban ground decaffeinated coffee, followed by the national rollout of Maxwell House decaffeinated At the same time, it introduced a decaffeinated version of its long-established, lighter-tasting Yuban brand on the West Coast. Maxwell House Instant Decaffeinated Coffee came to store shelves in 1985. A further modification of the decaf theme, Maxwell House Lite, a reduced-caffeine blend,
836-610: The actress Margaret Hamilton , famous for playing the Wicked Witch of the West in the popular 1939 film The Wizard of Oz , as Cora, the general store owner who proudly announced that Maxwell House was the only brand she sold. Maxwell House was also a well-known sponsor of The Burns and Allen Show , during which time Maxwell House spots were incorporated into the plots of the radio scripts. Along with television advertising, Maxwell House used various print campaigns, always featuring
880-408: The brewing water and the grounds are filtered from the water via a mesh instead of a paper filter, coffee brewed with the cafetiere captures more of the coffee's flavour and essential oils , which would become trapped in a traditional drip brew machine's paper filters. As with drip-brewed coffee, cafetiere coffee can be brewed to any strength by adjusting the amount of ground coffee which is brewed. If
924-600: The company added cappuccino products to its line with Cappio Iced Cappuccino and Maxwell House Cappuccino in 1993. In recent years, the names of these products have been modified by the company to present a more uniform Maxwell House brand image. After Kraft Foods Inc. was split into two companies in 2012, the rights to the Maxwell House brands were divided and are currently owned by Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's (formed from merger of Douwe Egberts and Mondelez International coffee and tea division) in
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#1732780966235968-497: The company had introduced "Max-Pax" ground-coffee filter rings, aimed at the then still-strong market for percolator coffee preparation. Although this method, too, has been eclipsed, the Max-Pax concept was subsequently adapted as Maxwell House Filter Packs, first marketed by this name in 1989, for use in automatic coffee makers. By the 1990s, the company had quietly discontinued formulations for specific preparation methods. The brand
1012-565: The company introduced "Maxwell House ElectraPerk", developed specifically for electric percolators . In 1969 General Foods in the UK launched granulated coffee in a presentation at the London Hilton hotel, using a pantomime stage format in a show called "Once Upon a Coffee Time". In this story, the weak "Prince of Powdah" and his mentor "Reschem" travel the world in search of blends. Meeting and falling in love with "Princess Purity" and fighting
1056-596: The dragon "Old Hat", the young man emerges as "Prince Granulo", heir to the Kingdom of Maxwell. This show was written by Michael Ingrams, produced by the Mitchell Monkhouse Agency, and designed by Malcolm Lewis and Chris Miles of Media. In 1976 General Foods added "Maxwell House A.D.C." coffee, the name reflecting its intended use in automatic drip coffeemakers such as Mr. Coffee , which were superseding traditional coffee-preparation methods. In 1972,
1100-818: The early 1990s. Its enormous rooftop sign, proclaiming the brand name and a dripping coffee cup, was a landmark visible in New York City across the Hudson River . The plant was later sold and demolished, and a condominium was subsequently built on the site. According to Ken Burns ' Baseball , the Hoboken site was built on the Elysian Fields in 1939, believed to be the site of the first organized baseball game. The company added plants in Houston , Texas; and San Leandro, California . Kraft Foods sold
1144-473: The first vacuum coffee maker that truly automated the vacuum brewing process, while eliminating the need for a stovetop burner or liquid fuels. A cafetiere (coffee plunger, French press in US English) requires coffee of a coarser grind than does a drip brew coffee filter , as finer grounds will seep through the press filter and into the drink. Because the coffee grounds remain in direct contact with
1188-492: The first merchant to sell packaged coffee, was merged with Maxwell House , later, General Foods . From 1949 until 2015, Yuban brand coffee was made in San Leandro, California , with Arabica and Robusta, while Maxwell House brand coffee only uses Arabica, In 1984, The New York Times noted it was available only on the West Coast, and was among the top three of thirteen that "were the richest and most full-bodied". In 1966
1232-509: The hotel agreed to allow Cheek to name his coffee after his first big sale. Inspired by his success, Cheek resigned from his job as a coffee broker and, with partner Maxwell Colbourne, formed a wholesale grocery distributor known as the "Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company". They specialized in coffee, with Maxwell House Coffee , as it came to be known, as the central brand. Later, the Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company
1276-510: The largest non-oil acquisition at the time. In December 1988, Philip Morris acquired Kraft Foods Inc. , and, in 1990, combined the two food companies as Kraft General Foods. The "General Foods" name was dropped in 1995 with the corporate name being reverted to Kraft Foods; a line of caffeinated hot beverage mixes continued to carry the General Foods International name until 2010. General Foods background can be traced to
1320-447: The last drop". Maxwell House was the long-time sponsor of the early television series Mama , based on the play and film I Remember Mama . It starred Peggy Wood as the matriarch of a Norwegian-American family. It ran on the CBS network from 1949 to 1957. This was perhaps the first example of product placement on a TV show, as the family frequently gathered around the kitchen table for
1364-543: The mental capacity of the article's author, and Collier's Weekly sued for libel. The case was heard in 1910, and Post was fined $ 50,000. The decision was overturned on appeal, but advertisements for Postum products stopped making such claims. C.W. Post died in 1914, and his daughter Marjorie Merriweather Post took over the company. The Postum Cereals company acquired others such as Jell-O (gelatin dessert) in 1925, Walter Baker & Company (chocolate) in 1927, Maxwell House (coffee) in 1928, and other food brands. By far
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1408-570: The most important acquisition in 1929 was of the frozen-food company owned by Clarence Birdseye , called "General Seafood Corporation". Birdseye (December 9, 1886 - October 7, 1956) was one of the most important entrepreneurs in the history of the food industry. Born in New York City, he became interested in the frozen preservation of food during the course of working as a fur trader in Labrador between 1912 and 1916. By 1923, he had developed
1452-485: The rest of the world. General Foods marketed decaffeinated coffee under various brand names such as Sanka from c. 1927, and Brim and Maxim, the latter a freeze-dried instant coffee which is not decaffeinated, from the 1950s. But it refrained from selling Maxwell House-labeled decaffeinated coffee products until 1983, when it introduced ground Maxwell House Decaffeinated into East Coast markets. General Foods ... through its Maxwell House division, entered 1984 with
1496-399: The slogan was written by Clifford Spiller, former president of General Foods Corporation, and did not come from a Roosevelt remark overheard by Cheek-Neal. The phrase remains a registered trademark of the product and appears on its logo. The veracity of the Roosevelt connection to the phrase has never been historically established. In the local press coverage of Roosevelt's October 21 visit,
1540-498: The tagline "good to the last drop". The publication of its Passover Haggadah by the Joseph Jacobs Advertising Agency, beginning in 1932, made Maxwell House a household name with many American Jewish families. This was part of a marketing strategy by advertiser Jacobs, who also hired an Orthodox rabbi to certify that the coffee bean was technically not " kitniyot " (because it was more like a berry than
1584-475: The two worked on finding the perfect blend. In 1892, Cheek approached the food buyer for the Maxwell House Hotel and gave him 20 pounds of his special blend for free. After a few days, the coffee was gone, and the hotel returned to using its usual brand. But after hearing complaints from patrons and others who liked Cheek's coffee better, the hotel bought Cheek's blend exclusively. After six months,
1628-420: The used grounds remain in the drink after brewing, French pressed coffee left to stand can become "bitter", though this is an effect that many users of cafetiere consider beneficial. For a 1 ⁄ 2 -litre (0.11 imp gal; 0.13 US gal) cafetiere, the contents are considered spoiled, by some reports, after around 20 minutes. The single-serve or single-cup coffeemaker had gained popularity by
1672-446: The years in a predominately radio comedy and variety format. Maxwell House also sponsored The Goldbergs series on radio and later on television. Maxwell House was also the sponsor of the radio version of Father Knows Best . Each episode began with the youngest daughter asking, "Mother, is Maxwell House really the best coffee in the whole world?", to which the mother would reply, "Well, your father says so, and Father Knows Best!" It
1716-561: Was established in the United States by Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate acquisitions, by Marjorie Merriweather Post after she inherited the established cereal business from her father, C. W. Post. In November 1985, General Foods was acquired by Philip Morris Companies (now Altria ) for $ 5.6 billion,
1760-658: Was introduced nationally in 1992 by Kraft General Foods and in its instant form the following year. During the 1920s, the Maxwell House brand began to be extensively advertised across the US. Total advertising expenditures rose from $ 19,955 in 1921 to $ 276,894 in 1924. The brand was cited as the most well-known coffee brand in a 1925 study of consumer goods. Maxwell House was the sponsor of Maxwell House Coffee Time , which ran from 1937 to 1949 and featured Baby Snooks (a character portrayed by Fanny Brice ), Charles Ruggles , Frank Morgan , Topper, and George Burns and Gracie Allen over
1804-427: Was later replaced by Postum , a hot caffeine-free beverage that was touted as a calming beverage that would neither keep you up nor make you jittery. On Canadian television in the early 1980s, actor Ricardo Montalbán promoted Maxwell House in commercials with the theme "Morning and Maxwell House". In 1985, the company switched to more upbeat "Me and Max" campaigns with the common tagline "Hugga Mugga Max" and "Good to
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1848-518: Was renamed as the "Cheek-Neal Coffee Company". Over the next several years, the Maxwell House Coffee brand became a well-respected name that set it apart from the competition. In 1915, Cheek-Neal began using a "Good to the last drop" slogan to advertise their Maxwell House Coffee. For several years, the ads made no claim of Theodore Roosevelt being the originator of the phrase. The company was then sold to General Foods which took over
1892-459: Was reorganized, and the Kraft Foods name was restored. On November 15, 2007, Kraft announced it would spin off Post Cereals and merge that business with Ralcorp Holdings . That merger was completed August 4, 2008, at which time the official name of the company became Post Foods, LLC. Coffeemaker#Electric drip coffeemakers A coffeemaker , coffee maker or coffee machine is
1936-477: Was served a luncheon meal which, she learned to her amazement, had been frozen six months before. Despite her enthusiasm, it took Post three years to convince Postum's management to acquire the company. Postum paid $ 10.75 million for a 51% interest and its partner, Goldman Sachs , paid $ 12.5 million for the other 49%. Following this acquisition, Postum, Inc changed its name to General Foods Corporation. Goldman sold its share back to General Foods in 1932, apparently at
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