United Foods, Inc - Houston, Texas - Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock printed by Columbian Bank Note Company. Available in Olive, Brown or Orange. Please specify color.

United Foods, initially incorporated as United Industries Company, Inc., in Texas in 1956, established itself in the grain storage business. With headquarters in Houston, the company’s primary focus was warehousing grain under contract with the Commodity Credit Corporation. In 1958, United Foods acquired the Santana Grain Storage Co., Inc., and the Southwest Grain Storage Co., Inc., expanding its operations in the grain storage sector. These two companies were subsequently merged into United the following year.

In 1961, the company underwent a name change and went public, listing its stock on the American Stock Exchange. During this period, United Foods diversified its operations by engaging in subsidiaries involved in freezing and packing vegetables and shrimp. Additionally, the company supplied bananas, feed, and market-fattened cattle to packers in the Houston area. Furthermore, United Foods operated a cold storage warehouse in Brownsville, Texas. In 1961, the company reported a net income of $.4 million on revenues of $4.8 million.

By the end of the 1960s, United Foods had solidified its commitment to freezing and packaging vegetables, shrimp, and fruit as its core business. Throughout the decade, the company made several strategic acquisitions of frozen food processing companies. Notably, in 1963, United Foods acquired Western Frozen Foods of Watsonville, California; in 1964, Colonial Cannery, Inc., of Independence, Louisiana; and in 1966, Sodus Fruit Exchange, Inc., of Sodus, Michigan. In 1966, United Foods also divested itself of its small business investment company, First United Capital Corporation.