Type Private Founder Grover Hutcherson | Industry Food processing Key people Brian Reichart, CEO | |
Founded 1942; 75 years ago (1942)
Orestes, Indiana Headquarters Elwood, Indiana, United States | ||
Red Gold is a tomato processing company based in Orestes, Indiana, with plants also in Elwood, Indiana, and Geneva, Indiana. Red Gold produces canned tomatoes (diced, stewed, etc.) with various flavorings, tomato juice, ketchup, tomato sauces, salsa and other tomato related products. The tomatoes are contract-grown near the plant's canneries, mostly in Indiana, Ohio and surrounding states.
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History
What is now Red Gold was begun by Grover Hutcherson in 1942 in Orestes, Indiana, when he and his daughter Fran rebuilt the burned-out cannery there. The original brands were Indiana's Finest and Indiana Chief. Fran married Ernie Reichart, and both he and their children became involved in the company. The Red Gold name was not used by this company until the 1970s, when the brand was bought from a cannery in Trafalgar, Indiana. Brian Reichart was named CEO in 1980, and Ernie and Fran turned the business over to their children.
Red Gold has purchased various other companies over the years, including Fettig Canning and Fettig Transport in 1981, renamed RG Transport; the Stokley brand of tomatoes in 1993 from Stokley-Van Camp; Red Wing in Geneva, IN; and RTS Brands from Tri-Valley in 2001 which included the Sacramento, Redpack and Tuttoroso brands of tomato products
Red Gold consumes 95 percent of Indiana's tomato crop and 80 percent of all Midwestern tomatoes.
Red Gold now has more than 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) under roof in Indiana, 15 warehouses throughout the United States, and a fleet of 140 trucks.