H. P. Hood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Type: Limited liability company
Industry: Food
Founded: 1846 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States
Founder: Harvey Perley Hood
Headquarters: Lynnfield, Massachusetts, United States
Area served: United States and International Locations
Key people: John A. Kaneb (CEO)
Products: Dairy
Number of employees: approximately 3,000
Subsidiaries: (see list of brands below)

H.P. Hood. LLC is an American dairy company based in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Hood was founded in 1846 in Charlestown, Massachusetts by Harvey Perley Hood. Recent company acquisitions by HP Hood have expanded its reach from predominantly New England to the broader United States. Today, the company has an annual sales revenue of about $2.2 billion. From 1980 to 1995, HP Hood was owned by Agway. That year, the company was acquired by current CEO John A. Kaneb. HP Hood is an independently owned, private company and is listed at #216 on the Forbes “America’s Largest Private Companies 2018” list.

Acquisitions
In 2004, the company acquired Crowley Foods, based in Binghamton, New York; and Kemps, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2007, HP Hood acquired Crystal Cream and Butter Company, based in Sacramento, California, shortly selling it to Foster Farms Dairy. In 2008, they acquired the ice cream business of Brigham’s Ice Cream, based in Arlington, Massachusetts. These acquisitions effectively expanded the company’s reach from New England and New York to the broader United States.

Current brands
Hood
Simply Smart
Calorie Countdown
Crowley Foods (portion of assets licensed to Balford Farms in 2014)
Heluva Good!
Axelrod Foods
M. Maggio Company
Penn Maid Foods
Booth Brothers Dairy
Green’s Ice Cream
Brigham’s Ice Cream
Hagan Ice Cream
Planet Oat
Lactaid (brand of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC produced by HP Hood since 1997)
Hershey’s milk and milkshakes (brand of The Hershey Company produced by HP Hood since 2010)
Blue Diamond Almond Breeze (brand of Blue Diamond Growers produced by HP Hood since 2008)
Southern Comfort Eggnog
Note: A news source from Binghamton, New York mentions that Balford Farms of Burlington, New Jersey purchased the rights to Crowley Foods in 2014. Another source states that Balford Farms is a part owner, having only a portion of the assets. According to the history section on the Crowley Foods website, as of 2017, it mentions that their products are still part of the HP Hood line of brands. Balford Farms took over the former warehouse and distribution center for Crowley Foods in 2014.

Former brands
Kemps (sold to Dairy Farmers of America in 2011)
Goodrich Ice Cream
Rosenberger’s Dairy (sold to Balford Farms in 2014)
Rosenberger’s Dairy Wagon

Products
Milk
Cottage Cheese
Sour Cream
Cream
Ice Cream
Eggnog
Frozen Novelties
Frozen Yogurt
Juice and Drinks
Calorie Countdown ®
Simply Smart ® Milk
Hoodsie Cups

Iconography
HP Hood is a New England icon and their name and logo are well known. The smoke stack marked “Hoods Milk” at their former facility near Sullivan Square, Charlestown remains a landmark. The 20 acre facility is being redeveloped as a mixed residential / commercial campus called the “Hood Park”.

The company ran a highway safety campaign called Hood Samaritan circa 1960, that was later taken over by the CVS Pharmacy chain.

At Boston Children’s Museum, the outdoor ice cream stand takes the form of a large Hood Milk Bottle. The Hood blimp often appears at sport and cultural events (most often Red Sox home games above Boston, and the Eastern States Exposition in October). The Hood blimp made news on September 26, 2006 when it crashed in a wooded area near Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts.

The Hoodsie cup, a small cardboard cup of ice cream, is an iconic product; the term “Hoodsie” is occasionally cited as a shibboleth of the Boston area dialect.

A United States Supreme Court case, H.P. Hood and Sons v. DuMond, was decided in the Hood Company’s favor, in which the State of New York was prevented from withholding a license to acquire milk produced in New York, and sold in Massachusetts, based on the dormant commerce clause limitations on state intervention in interstate commerce.

The company and their logo served as somewhat of an inspiration to the popular Phish tune “Harry Hood”.