The story
1914–1942
In 1914, brothers William Howard and Joseph Hampton Flowers founded the Flowers Ice Cream Company in Thomasville, Georgia. To meet local demand for fresh bread, they established the Flowers Baking Company in 1919. The bakery initially sold 500 loaves of "Flowers Quality Bread" on its first morning, utilizing modern equipment capable of producing 30,000 loaves daily. Throughout the 1920s, the company expanded its distribution of bread, rolls, and cakes via rail into southern Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
During the company's early years, William Howard Flowers managed the bakery while Joseph Hampton Flowers oversaw the ice cream operations. In 1929, the firm completed its first divestiture by selling the ice cream division to Foremost Dairies. Following the death of William Howard Flowers in 1934, his son, William Howard Flowers Jr., assumed leadership of the bakery.
The company made its first acquisition in 1937 by purchasing the Tally Maid Bakery of Tallahassee, Florida. During World War II, the bakery operated continuously to supply bread to U.S. military camps across the southeastern United States. In 1942, Flowers became the sixth bakery in the country to franchise Quality Bakers of America's Sunbeam brand, incorporating the Little Miss Sunbeam mascot on its packaging.
1960s–1980s
During the 1960s, Flowers expanded by purchasing bakeries in Panama City, Florida and Opelika, Alabama. The company constructed a new bakery in Jacksonville, Florida in 1965, and entered the metropolitan Atlanta market two years later by acquiring the Atlanta Baking Company.
In 1968, the company launched an initial public offering, changed its name to Flowers Industries Inc., and began trading over-the-counter. The following year, the company listed on the American Stock Exchange. The stock offering raised over $2 million, funding a series of acquisitions of bakeries across Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and the Carolinas. Flowers entered the frozen foods market in 1976 by purchasing Stilwell Foods, a frozen vegetable producer.
To accommodate its growth, the company moved its headquarters in 1975 to a new 15-acre corporate complex south of Thomasville, Georgia. Flowers listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1982 under the ticker symbol "FLO" and debuted on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. industrial corporations the following year at number 470. During the 1980s, the company temporarily diversified into selling sandwiches and cookies, exiting both ventures by the end of the decade while continuing to acquire bakeries across the southeastern and southwestern United States.
1990s–present
In 1996, Flowers Industries expanded its portfolio by acquiring the Mrs. Smith's frozen dessert brand and entering a joint venture to purchase the Keebler Company. By the early 2000s, the company refocused on its core snack cake and bread operations. It divested its interest in Keebler Company in 2001 for $1.2 billion, subsequently restructuring and rebranding as Flowers Foods. The company then sold Mrs. Smith's in 2003.
Flowers Foods continues to pursue acquisitions to expand into emerging product categories. These initiatives include targing the Hispanic market with its Mi Casa tortilla line, and offering organic products—such as Dave's Killer Bread and Alpine Valley Bread—alongside keto-friendly items and smaller loaf variations under its Nature's Own Brand.
From Wikipedia’s article on Flowers Foods, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8