Miami, Florida, may be home to Cuban and Latin fusion cuisine, seafood and fruit smoothies, but its sauerkraut company has relocated to a state that embraces the fermented cabbage condiment.
Fermented Food Holdings has moved its corporate headquarters to the American Center Business Park in Madison and plans to expand its sauerkraut factory in northeastern Wisconsin.
Bubbies is one of the many brands owned by Fermented Food Holdings, which has moved its corporate headquarters to Madison from Miami, Florida. The company, established in 2021, is also investing $13 million to expand a sauerkraut plant it purchased in 2022 in northeastern Wisconsin.
FFH was established in late 2021 and has been purchasing fermented food brands, including Great Lakes Kraut, located in Bear Creek west of Green Bay, in 2022. The $13 million expansion of the factory will add 41 jobs, a new fermentation room, a cooler and a production line that will increase the facility’s capacity by 20%, or 20 million pounds of cabbage annually.
The corporate headquarters, home to 19 employees, is located across the street from Erin’s Snug Irish Pub & Restaurant in an office building at 4600 American Parkway that is also home to the Midwest Food Products Association. The trade group was founded in 1905 as the Wisconsin Canners Association and lobbies on behalf of food processing companies and affiliated industries in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota.
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Moving the headquarters to a state where bratwurst, hot dogs and other sausages permeate the landscape and where German heritage remains strong was a natural for the company’s leadership team. Wisconsin is the fourth-largest producer of cabbage in the country, with major farms located in Outagamie, Racine, Kenosha and Waukesha counties.
“A big motivation for us is to get closer to the source and strengthen our relationships with local farms,” said Jorge Azevedo, who was named on Oct. 22 FFH’s CEO after working as its chief operating officer since 2022. “We were buying from brokers, buying from farms that were certified organic — but we didn’t know the people growing the product. You couldn’t call up their cell phone and know the family who grew it for you. We find that connection to be very important.”
Flanagan Farm sauerkraut was born in the early 1900s in the Outagamie County village of Bear Creek west of Green Bay and is now owned by Fermented Food Holdings.
FFH was founded by Oliver Joost, formerly the Head of Kraft Heinz Ingredients, and Marcelo Marim, former CFO of PepsiCo Brazil. Just months after forming the company, the duo purchased wildbrine, a maker of kimchi, organic sauerkraut, pickled vegetables, salsa and Sriracha; and Bubbies, a pickle company that now also makes sauerkraut, horseradish and relish. GLK was founded in the early 1900s in Bear Creek by the Flanagan family and uses 150,000 tons of raw cabbage a year for its Flanagan Farm, Silver Floss and Courtland Valley brands of sauerkraut.
Other brands from FFH include Saverne, a small-batch, handcrafted kraut that includes flavors like craft beer, sriracha and dill and garlic; and Hawthorne Foods, a New York company that makes flavored sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables.
FFH received $500,000 in funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and had considered keeping its headquarters in Miami or relocating to Denver or Austin, Texas, but ultimately chose Madison.
One of the economy brands of sauerkraut owned by Fermented Food Holdings is Silver Floss Sauerkraut. One of the world’s largest producers of sauerkraut and fermented foods, FFH ships its products to all 50 states and internationally.
“Fermented Food Holdings’ commitment to partnering with local farms, investing in local communities and honoring Wisconsin’s deep agricultural heritage makes them a perfect fit for our state’s world-class food and beverage industry,” said Missy Hughes, the WEDC’s secretary and CEO.
One of the world’s largest producers of sauerkraut and fermented foods, FFH ships its products to all 50 states and internationally and has partnered with Taylor Farms, which is a strategic minority equity investor and the largest fresh vegetable grower and processor in the country.
Azevedo has more than 15 years of experience in business operations, sales and brand development and was a founding partner and chief growth officer at Planterra Foods. He began his career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs but his focus now is on growing sales of sauerkraut and other fermented foods. By expanding the Bear Creek facility, cabbage will enter fermentation vats within 24 hours of harvest, the company said.
“It’s a very simple, very healthy product and it’s one step away from the farm,” Azevedo said. “We love that we can be close to the small, very tight farming community that has been with (our brands) for decades.”
15 formerly popular foods in America that are rarely eaten today
15 formerly popular foods in America that are rarely eaten today
Similar to fashion trends and cultural entertainment, like film cameras or pedal pushers, food trends can also ebb and flow depending on Americans' ever-changing tastes, interests, and technological advancements only to fall out of favor. Cottage cheese was once a popular snack food in America (in the 1970s, the average American ate nearly 5 pounds of cottage cheese according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture).
Consumption declined in the 1980s due to the popularity of yogurt—only to slowly make a resurgence when Americans realized this high-protein food is incredibly versatile thanks to TikTok and Instagram social media influencers. Did you know you can use cottage cheese to make ice cream? Now, viral cottage cheese recipe hacks are shared widely across platforms.
While there are foods that have a resurgence in popular culture, other foods that were once popular on tables across America have either dimmed in popularity or disappeared completely. As culinary tastes evolved towards simpler, more natural flavors, health consciousness grew, leading to a preference for less processed foods. Changes in grocery store offerings, preferences, restaurant cultural shifts (why visit a soda parlor when you have a McDonald's?), availability of ingredients, and even migrant bird laws (yes, you read that right) have all played a role in these particular foods losing popularity amongst Americans—reflecting broader societal changes in how and what we eat.
Stacker researched the history of popular foods, from Jell-O salads to Salisbury steak, and highlighted 15 that are no longer widely consumed, citing sources like the Smithsonian and various publication archives. Here are the popular foods we typically don't see Americans enjoy anymore, from the restaurants they dine at to the dishes they share at the table.
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Olive loaf
Although the olive loaf is similar to Italian mortadella, sliced sausage meat with cubes of pork fat, this former American favorite deli meat is a mixture of pork, chicken, and beef with whole green olives. In recent years, the olive loaf has been associated with more popular cuts like bologna and is not typical to find on mainstream grocery store shelves.
Ambrosia salad
Dating back to the ancient Greeks, ambrosia salad began appearing in cookbooks in the 1800s when citrus fruit was easier to get ahold of, and soon became an American staple across dinner tables nationwide.
This sweet creamy salad can include canned pineapple, canned mandarin oranges as well as fresh oranges, miniature marshmallows, and coconut. The dish became a staple across Southern states in the 20th century but isn't seen as much on dinner tables during the 21st.
Jello molds
Also referred to as jello salads or gelatin salads, this dinner staple was a traditional side on American tables; a gelatin mold with a mix of savory and sweet ingredients like fruit, grated carrots and other vegetables, cottage and cream cheese, marshmallows and crunchy fillings like pretzels and nuts.
After Jell-O was invented in the late 1800s, making it easy to create gelatin-based foods, the first jello mold popped up in Pennsylvania in 1904 by Mrs. John E. Cook. The jello salad became popular in the 1950s but declined in popularity in the 1960s and 70s.
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Succotash
Once a popular dish dating back to the 17th century, succotash isn't the type of dinner side you see on the table these days. Evolved from the word msíckquatash from the Narragansett tribe, meaning "boiled corn kernels," this dish will typically contain a variety of ingredients including onions, tomatoes, lima beans or other legumes, bell peppers, turnips, and sometimes cubed meat like corned beef or pork.
Although this New England staple might not be seen on many tables these days, it can still be a popular fixture in some Southern households.
Salisbury steak
Although the Salisbury steak became a popular dinner choice and was frequently found in TV dinners, this particular dish was originally presented as a cure for digestive illness for troops during the Civil War.
Dr. James Henry Salisbury founded the dish, an early pioneer of germ theory, and claimed that a diet high in beefsteak and coffee could help cure digestive diseases. (The claim was that beef was easier to digest compared to root vegetables.) It became a common dish served to troops in World War I and became a staple on American tables for decades. This dish is made from ground beef patties smothered in a gravy sauce.
TV dinners
Speaking of the Salisbury steak, the once popular TV dinner also isn't a regular purchase for grocery shoppers anymore. Slightly different from the frozen dinner selection at stores today, TV dinners increased in popularity when television sets became a staple in U.S. households in the late 1950s.
Simply pop the dinner in the oven for less than 20 minutes, and you have a fully cooked, ready-to-eat meal with a main (like meat in a gravy sauce), side dishes (peas, carrots, corn, or anything similar), and sometimes even a dessert. (Chocolate cake!)
Malted milkshakes
With the decline in interest in ice cream parlors and soda fountains, there was also a decline in the once-popular malted milkshake. After the Horlick brothers created malted milk powder in the 1870s, malted milk was relied on regularly as a food during the Great Depression; a dried tablet made with dry malt extract, wheat extract, and dried milk that was mixed with water.
Malt was eventually used as an ingredient in soda fountains, as a means to lure customers away from drinking alcohol in saloons. However, malted milk options are not regularly seen on abundant grocery shelves anymore.
Ovaltine
Originally founded in Switzerland in 1904 and then sold in the U.S. market as early as 1915, Ovaltine is a chocolate powder made from whey, malt, cocoa, and sugar (corn syrup) that can be prepared in hot or cold milk.
It became a household staple not only for the taste, but also for its nutritional benefits; Ovaltine contains 12 vitamins and minerals, and 40% of the recommended daily intake of calcium (when mixed with eight ounces of milk). The drink was acquired by Nestle in 2007 and isn't as popular in American pantries as it once was.
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Fruitcake
The fruitcake dates back as early as ancient Roman times, a sweet energy bar made with barley, honey, pomegranate seeds, wine, and dried fruit.
Versions of this delicacy spanned different countries and cultures and are most ubiquitous as a sweet treat to celebrate the holidays. It's even the chosen cake served at royal weddings! Despite this, tastes changed, and the home-baked allure and popularity of fruitcakes fell with dry mass-produced cakes.
Necco wafers
Named for the company where they came from, Necco wafers are small colorful sugar-coated candy discs that were made by the New England Confectionery Company. In 1847, Oliver R. Chase created a machine that pressed and printed candy which helped him to become one of the founding owners of Necco. The wafer was so popular that the U.S. government bought an entire year's (production) worth of the candy to pack away for soldiers fighting in World War I.
With so many candy options on shelves these days, the Necco wafer is a candy that has been long forgotten, but still beloved by many who used to love snacking on this sugary sweet treat.
Ice cream sodas
During its heyday in the early 20th century, thousands of soda fountains were sprinkled across the nation, a place to grab a sweet soda beverage with scoops of ice cream and clever homemade syrups.
The ice cream soda was originally founded by Robert M. Green in 1874, who sold fountain soda with scoops of ice cream when he ran out of sweet cream. His clever substitute became a nationwide staple for decades until the popularity of ice cream sodas began to fade thanks to the introduction of fast-food soda fountains in the 1970s.
Story editing by Cynthia Rebolledo. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.
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