Who Owns Stouffer's?

Stouffer's was founded in 1924 by Abraham Stouffer and his wife Mahala in Cleveland, Ohio. The Stouffers initially opened a small dairy stand in the Arcade, a historic Cleveland shopping center, serving buttermilk and waffles. The business grew into a full restaurant, and the Stouffer family expanded to multiple restaurant locations across Cleveland and other Ohio cities throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

The Stouffer family's transition into frozen foods came in the 1950s, driven by the rapid adoption of home freezers in American households following World War II. Vernon Stouffer, Abraham's son who had taken over the family business, recognized that the company's restaurant recipes could be adapted for frozen preparation and sold to consumers for home use. The company began producing frozen macaroni and cheese and other comfort food staples that replicated the quality of restaurant meals.

Stouffer's frozen food business grew rapidly through the 1960s as frozen food technology improved and American consumers embraced the convenience of frozen meals. The brand became known for its commitment to quality ingredients and recipes that tasted like home-cooked food rather than institutional frozen meals. Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese became one of the brand's signature products and remains one of the best-selling frozen food items in the United States.

In 1967, Stouffer's was acquired by Litton Industries, a diversified conglomerate, which provided capital for expansion but was not a natural fit for a food company. In 1973, Nestlé acquired Stouffer's from Litton for approximately $105 million, bringing the brand into the world's largest food company's portfolio.

Under Nestlé's ownership, Stouffer's continued to expand its product line and distribution. In 1981, Nestlé launched Lean Cuisine as a sub-brand of Stouffer's, targeting health-conscious consumers who wanted lower-calorie frozen meals. Lean Cuisine became enormously successful and was eventually spun off as a separate brand within Nestlé's portfolio.

Stouffer's has continued to innovate its product line, introducing new meal categories, updating recipes to reflect changing consumer tastes, and adapting to trends including the demand for more protein, fewer preservatives, and cleaner ingredient labels.