Uncle Ben's

Uncle Ben's is an American brand of parboiled rice and other related food products that was introduced by Converted Rice Inc., which is now owned by Mars, Inc. Its headquarters are in Denver Harbor, Houston, Texas. Uncle Ben's rice was first marketed in 1943 and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s.[1] In 2020, Mars declared that the brand would be changed to "Ben's Original".[2] The brand's products are sold worldwide.

Future logo
This article is about the brand of rice. For the comic book character, see Uncle Ben.
Uncle Ben's
Product typeRice
OwnerMars, Incorporated
CountryUnited States
Introduced1943 (1943)
MarketsWorldwide
Websiteunclebens.com

History

In the 1910s, the German-British scientist and chemist Erich Huzenlaub (1888–1964)[3] and the British scientist and chemist Francis Heron Rogers invented a form of parboiling designed to retain more of the nutrients in rice, now known as the Huzenlaub Process. The process entailed vacuum drying the whole grain, then steaming, and finally vacuum drying and removal of the husk.[4][5] Besides increasing rice's nutritional value, it also made it resistant to weevils and reduced cooking time.[4]

In 1932, Forrest Mars Sr., moved to the United Kingdom with a remit to expand the Mars food company internationally.[6] While in the United Kingdom, Mars learned of Erich Huzenlaub's work with rice. Huzenlaub's London-based company was Rice Conversion, Ltd.[7] The two eventually formed Mars and Huzenlaub[8] in Houston, Texas, which gave Forrest Mars partial ownership of the Huzenlaub Process rice conversion patent. In 1942, through Mars's guidance and sponsorship, Huzenlaub created, together with Houston food broker Gordon L. Harwell, the company Converted Rice, Inc., which sold its entire output to the U.S. and British Armed Forces. The advantage of this product was that it could be air-dropped to troops in the field without risk of weevil infestation, and it could be cooked more quickly than other rice products. Additionally, the converted rice product would retain more nutritional value.[9] In 1944, with additional financing from the Defense Plant Corporation and an investment by Forrest Mars, it built a second large plant.[10] In 1959, Forrest Mars purchased Erich Huzenlaub's interest in the company and merged it into his Food Manufacturers, Inc.[11]

Uncle Ben's milling plant was on the Houston Ship Channel until 1999, when it moved to Greenville, Mississippi.[12][13]

Marketing
Ad for the product from 1951.

From 1946 to 2020, Uncle Ben's products carried the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, which is said to have been based on a Chicago maître d'hôtel named Frank Brown.[14][15] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice grower known for the quality of his rice. Gordon L. Harwell, an entrepreneur who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name Uncle Ben's as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public.[16] The name "Uncle Ben's" was criticized as racist as White southerners reportedly addressed Black men as "uncle", allegedly in order to avoid using Mr.[17]

In March 2007, Uncle Ben's image was "promoted" to the "chairman of the board" by a new advertising campaign.[18]

In September 2017, Mars, Inc. started to certify the sustainability of basmati rice sold under the Uncle Ben's brand, in order to encourage the local farmers to opt for the best agricultural methods.[19]

On June 17, 2020, Mars, Inc. stated that it would be "evolving" the brand's identity, including the brand's logo. The move followed just hours after Quaker/PepsiCo changed the name and logo of its Aunt Jemima brand amid accusations of racism.[20][21] As advertised on September 23, 2020, Mars Inc. will replace the "Uncle Ben's" name with "Ben's Original".[22]

Use outside cooking

It has been reported that microwaveable rice packets, Uncle Ben's pre-cooked rice being the most wide-spread one, are being used as the sterile, nutrient-rich substrate needed for Psilocybin mushroom growing. On Reddit, the community r/unclebens is specifically designed to gather Psilocybin mushroom growers using this method.[23][24]

References
  1. Palmeri, Christopher (December 13, 1999). "Wake Up, Mars!" Forbes.
  2. Wallace, Alicia. "Uncle Ben's has a new name: Ben's Original". CNN. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  3. "Geburtsurkunde: Erich Gustav Wilhelm August Louis Huzenlaub" [Birth Certificate of Erich Gustav Wilhelm August Louis Huzenlaub] (in German). Stuttgart. April 7, 1959. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  4. Kik, M.C.; Williams, R.R. (June 1945). "The Nutritional Improvement of White Rice". Bulletin of the National Research Council (112): 61 ff. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  5. British Patents 519,926 (10 April 1940) and 522,353 (17 June 1940); U.S. Patents 2,239,608 (22 April 1941), 2,287,737 (20 December 1941), 2,287,737 (23 June 1942), cited in Kik and Williams
  6. "History in the Making". Mars, Inc. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  7. Rice Conversion, Ltd. Pamphlet
  8. Mars and Huzenlaub Documents
  9. "Science: Richer Rice". Time. June 28, 1943. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  10. "Business & Finance: Rice for G.I.s". Time. August 28, 1944. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  11. "Correspondence from Forrest Mars to Erich Huzenlaub". September 28, 1959.
  12. Perrin, Monica (October 11, 1998). "Uncle Ben's closing old mill, moving operations to Mississippi". Houston Business Journal.
  13. Drane, Amanda (June 17, 2020). "Houston-based Uncle Ben's to evolve its brand after Pepsi ditches Aunt Jemima". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 26, 2020. The company’s headquarters, on Harvey Wilson Drive, stayed behind in Bayou City.
  14. "Frank Brown (A.K.A. Uncle Ben???)". Morphological Confetti. February 1, 2006.
  15. Kendrix, Moss H. "The Advertiser's Holy Trinity: Aunt Jemima, Rastus, and Uncle Ben". Museum of Public Relations. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  16. "About". Uncle Ben's. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006 – via Internet Archive.
  17. McEvoy, Jemima (September 23, 2020). "Uncle Ben's Changes To Ben's Original Amid Rebrand Of Racist Labeling". Forbes. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  18. Elliott, Stuart (March 30, 2007). "Uncle Ben, Board Chairman". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  19. "Uncle Ben's orders up 100 per cent sustainable rice". BusinessGreen. September 22, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  20. Valinsky, Jordan (June 17, 2020). "Uncle Ben's follows Aunt Jemima in move to phase out racial stereotypes in logos". CNN. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  21. Lacy, Lisa (June 17, 2020). "Uncle Ben's Vows to Upgrade 'Visual Brand Identity'". Adweek. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  22. "Uncle Ben's rice getting new name — Ben's Original". CBS News. September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  23. Rivera, Dane (June 29, 2020). "Why DIY Magic Mushroom Growers Are Gathering In A Rice Subreddit". Uproxx. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  24. Myers, Quinn (June 23, 2020). "Reddit's Shroom Empire Is Built on Uncle Ben's Rice Packets". MEL Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
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