Armour and Company - 2000 To Present

2000 To Present

The Dial Corporation was acquired by Henkel KGaA of Düsseldorf, Germany, in March 2004. The food-related brands of the Dial Corporation—including the shelf-stable meat products sold under the Armour-Star brand, which encompassed foods such as chili, hash, potted meat, sloppy joe sauce, sliced dried beef, Treet, and Vienna sausages—were sold to Pinnacle Foods Group in March 2006, so that the company could focus on its personal care, laundry, and professional products businesses. Dial's Cream corn starch and Appian Way boxed pizza products were also part of the deal. Under Pinnacle's ownership, over 150 meat products are sold under the Armour-Star label, and are now manufactured by Smithfield Foods (having acquired ConAgra's refrigerated meat business in late 2006; this represented somewhat of a reuniting, as ConAgra had bought the Armour refrigerated meat business in 1982). Pinnacle Foods was acquired by The Blackstone Group, a New York City-based private equity firm, in April 2007.

Armour's most recognizable product today is Armour hot dogs, and arguably Armour "LunchMakers", which compete with Oscar Meyer's "Lunchables". Armour's Vienna Sausage line is today owned by Smithfield Foods through their Armour Eckrich LLC affiliate.