Dare Foods

Canadian food manufacturer

Dare Foods

The Dare Foods logo

Company type| Private
Industry| Food processing
Founded| Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, in 1919
Headquarters|

Kitchener, Ontario

Canada

Products| Cookies
Crackers
Website| www.darefoods.com

Dare Foods, Limited is a Canada-based food manufacturing company. They have seven factories in Canada and the United States. Their products are distributed in North America and in more than 50 other countries.[1]

## Company history

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In 1892, the founder of Dare Foods, Charles H. Doerr, began making and selling cookies and candies in a small grocery shop in Berlin, Ontario, Canada. By 1919, Doerr had created the C.H. Doerr Company, which distributed his goods throughout Ontario. Following Charles's death in 1941, the company was led by his twenty-four-year-old grandson Carl Doerr.[2]: 30 [3] Carl had been raised by his paternal grandparents after both his parents died of the Spanish flu.[4]

On February 16, 1943, a fire destroyed the company's factory at Weber and Breithaupt in Kitchener, killing nightwatchman Julius Eckstein and risking the future of the company, then known as C.H. Doerr Co. Ltd.[5] Carl quickly moved to rebuild, relocating the same year as the fire to a plot of land on what is today Kingsway Drive in Kitchener.[5]

The name of the company was changed to "Dare" in 1945 because it was easier to pronounce.[2]: 30 Dare products became more popular Canada-wide by 1954, and began to be exported to the U.S. in 1956.

## Products

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Dare is known for adopting the resealable "tin tie" packaging for their cookies in 1954.[4] The resealable bag ensured freshness and soon became the standard packaging for cookies across Canada.[6][4]

Dare continued to grow rapidly by expanding their product lines and starting new trends in the food industry. Due to the recent awareness of peanut allergies, Dare declared all of its facilities to be "peanut free." They were one of the first large food manufacturers in Canada to do this.[citation needed] The following is a list of traditional products they make:

* Maple Leaf Crème Cookies
* Ultimate Coconut Crème Cookies
* Bear Paws
* Viva Puffs
* Whippets
* Wagon Wheels
* Breton Crackers
* Vinta Crackers
* RealFruit Gummies and RealFruit Minis
* Maxi Fruit
* Melba toast
* Breaktime Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dare provides snacks for families. A few of their new promoted products are:

* Bear Paws Cereal and Fruit
* Bear Paws Crackers
* Baguettes Bites
* Simple Pleasures Moments

Since 2003, they have produced Canada's Girl Guide cookies.

## References

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1. ^ "Our Dare Foods History". Dare. January 22, 2025. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
2. ^ a b Kearney, Mark; Ray, Randy (27 April 2009). "Charles H. Doerr (Dare Foods)". The big book of Canadian trivia. Dundurn Press. pp. 29–31\. ISBN 9781770704084. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
3. ^ Kearney, Mark (2002). I know that name! : the people behind Canada's best-known brand names from Elizabeth Arden to Walter Zeller. Toronto : Hounslow Book. pp. 68–71\. ISBN 978-1-55002-407-4. Retrieved 15 July 2021.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
4. ^ a b c Simone, Rose (11 April 2014). "Carl Dare built a lasting Canadian food company". therecord.com. p. B1. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
5. ^ a b Fear, Jon (21 February 2009). "Cookie factory gutted in 1943 blaze". Waterloo Region Record. p. D7.
6. ^ "Dare Foods – History – Company Profile". Archived from the original on 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2011-11-09.

## External links

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* Homepage
* "Dare Foods Limited". archives.uwaterloo.ca. University of Waterloo Library - Special Collections & Archives. Retrieved 15 July 2021.