A. E. Staley

The A. E. Staley company was a Decatur, Illinois based processor of corn founded in 1898. It changed its name to Staley Continental in 1985. It produced a range of starch products for the food, paper and other industries, high fructose corn syrup, crystalline fructose (under the brand name Krystar), ethanol (fuel) and other agro-industrial products. A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company was the center of a controversy in 1992 when the company locked out hundreds of workers after the workers had rejected a contract amid accusations by management of destruction and tampering of company property and equipment.

Augustus Eugene Staley (25 February 1867 – 26 December 1940) founded a sales company for food starch in Baltimore in 1898. On 6 November 1906, he incorporated his starch business that he had created in Baltimore, Maryland in order to start the production of food starch. In 1909 Mr. Staley purchased an inoperative cornstarch plant in Decatur, IL. He paid $45,000 and spent three years rebuilding and upgrading the plant with capital that he had raised from stockholders. The factory began processing on March 12, 1912.

The company has produced many famous household brands including Staley Pancake and Waffle Syrup, Sta-Puf fabric softener, and Sta-Flo liquid starch. The two latter brands were subsequently sold to Dial.

A. E. Staley Manufacturing was one of the largest processors of corn in the United States, second only to the Archer Daniels Midland Corporation, also based in Decatur, Illinois. It also processed soybeans under a partnership agreement with Archer Daniels Midland at its Decatur, Illinois plant. Archer Daniels Midland, through a subsidiary, owned 7.4% of A.E. Staley and often time, Archer Daniel Midland would assist A.E. Staley with filling corn syrup order for CPC international when the company was in short supply of product. Both companies also had joint ventures producing corn sweeteners in Central America.

In 1985, A. E. Staley purchased CFS Continental, a wholesale grocery company, for $360 million. A. E. Staley stated a need to diversify away from bulk food processing. After the acquisition, A. E. Staley changed its name to Staley Continental.

In 1988, British company Tate & Lyle acquired 90% of A. E. Staley for $1.42 billion. Prior to the purchase, Tate & Lyle announced that it planned to sell CFS Continental to SYSCO, another wholesale grocer, for $700 million to help fund the acquisition. In 2000, Tate & Lyle acquired the remaining 10% of A. E. Staley.

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