INDUSTRIAL HAMILTON: A TRAIL TO THE
FUTURE
Life Savers Incorporated
Location: 100 Cumberland Avenue, Hamilton, Ontario
What
is now the Life Savers plant on Cumberland Avenue in Hamilton was at one time
the home of the Beech-Nut Packing Company's sole Canadian factory. In 1922,
the Hamilton city council voted 17 to 4 to remove the restrictions preventing
an industry from locating on the former F. F. Dalley Company property at the
head of Sanford Avenue. Although neighbouring citizens presented a petition
signed by 200 protesting the arrival of a new industry, Hamilton inspectors
at the New York based Beech-Nut Packing Company determined it to be satisfactory
and so Beech-Nut's Canadian operations began. Production began the next year
starting with chewing gum. Reportedly, Beech-Nut was so pleased with the treatment
they received from the city of Hamilton that they distributed free boxes of
gum on the streets and to every retailer in the city.
In 1931, Life Savers Limited acquired Beech-Nut, amalgamating the two companies
in what would become the first of several buyouts for the Hamilton plant. The
Life Savers company originally started in New York City in 1913 as the Mint
Products Company when a man named Edward Noble bought a line of distinctly shaped
mints from a candy manufacturer in Cleveland, Ohio. The Life Savers plant in
Hamilton was not the first one in Canada, that honour belonged to a plant built
in Prescott, Ontario around 1920. However due to a fire which destroyed the
Prescott plant, the Hamilton plant became the only existing Canadian Life Savers
plant until the 1980's (when a second plant was built in Nova Scotia). After
the merger Life Savers continued to manufacture Beech-Nut suckers and gum, though
they were discontinued after awhile.
In
1951 the prosperous Life Savers company opened a $600,000 plant on Cumberland
Avenue, replacing its previous factory just west of it. The new plant contained
over 45,000 square feet of floor space, almost twice as much as the previous
works.
By 1969 the plant was producing over a billion individual candies each year.
There were 26 flavours of Life Savers manufactured at that time as well as six
different types of Beech-Nut candies. On top of this, the company considered
expanding its product line, choosing from 227 products, all produced by its
parent company Squibb Beech-Nut Incorporated
In 1974 Life Savers introduced their distinctive lollipop (with a hole in the centre)
along with a new type of gum which sold for five cents less than its competitors.
However, Life Savers wasn't able to retain its lower prices for too long. Even
advances in production efficiency could not balance out price increases in essential
ingredients like sugar.
In 1979 Life Savers' Canadian head office was moved from Hamilton to Burlington.
Two years later, the company introduced new flavours designed to appeal to an
adult market. These included butter cream mint and chocolate mint, as well as
low-calorie Life Savers. By this time 100 Hamiltonian employees produced 30
million rolls of candy each year, which were then distributed to 600,000 Canadian
stores. Additionally, gum (made at the new Life Savers plant in Amherst, Nova
Scotia) was packaged by the Hamilton plant. 1981 also saw the second buyout
of the company with Nabisco Brands Incorporated acquiring Life Savers from the (renamed)
E. R. Squibb Corporation for $250 million.
In 1983 Life Savers began producing sugarless Breath Saver mints, previously imported
from the United States and packaged in Hamilton. Furthermore, production had
doubled in the past two years with 60 million rolls being made in 16 different
flavours. Other products manufactured at this time included lollipops and Beech-Nut
cough drops.
1987 marked the third switch in parent companies for Life Savers as Nabisco
sold its Canadian candy operations to Hershey Canada Incorporated This resulted
in reduced employment and production for the Hamilton plant. In 1988, 75 workers
made 50 million rolls of candy. Though the Five Flavours (lemon, lime, pineapple,
orange, and cherry) rolls remained the most popular, accounting for a third
of all sales, Life Savers introduced new flavours every year.
In 1996 Life Savers was bought by their current parent company, Beta Brands
Limited Although Beta Brands planned to consolidate Life Savers production with
its operations at the McCormick's cookies and crackers plant in London, Ontario
in February, 1998, it reversed its decision in September and signed a five year
contract with the union at Life Savers guaranteeing that the Hamilton plant
would remain open.
Click here to see more Life Savers pictures.
References:
- CF Hamilton - Industries, Beech-Nut Packing Company. Special Collections,
HPL.
- CF Hamilton - Industries, Life Savers Limited. Special Collections, HPL.
Links:
What
is now the Life Savers plant on Cumberland Avenue in Hamilton was at one time
the home of the Beech-Nut Packing Company's sole Canadian factory. In 1922,
the Hamilton city council voted 17 to 4 to remove the restrictions preventing
an industry from locating on the former F. F. Dalley Company property at the
head of Sanford Avenue. Although neighbouring citizens presented a petition
signed by 200 protesting the arrival of a new industry, Hamilton inspectors
at the New York based Beech-Nut Packing Company determined it to be satisfactory
and so Beech-Nut's Canadian operations began. Production began the next year
starting with chewing gum. Reportedly, Beech-Nut was so pleased with the treatment
they received from the city of Hamilton that they distributed free boxes of
gum on the streets and to every retailer in the city.
