subsidiary industry organic products founded 1989 founder annie withey andrew martin headquarters berkeley california key people annie withey products macaroni and cheese salad dressing crackers fruit snacks snack mix frozen pizza pretzels graham crackers barbecue sauce mustard ketchup owner general mills website www.annies.com annie s homegrown is a berkeley california based maker of natural and organic pastas meals and snacks . the company was founded in hampton connecticut by annie withey and andrew martin who previously founded smartfood popcorn along with ken martin . it is perhaps best known for its macaroni and cheese product line which comes in shell form and bunny rabbit shapes and is the second best selling macaroni and cheese in the united states . 1 their mascot is a rabbit named bernie who appears in the seal of approval called the rabbit of approval . the company also produces annie s naturals which consists of condiments dressings and barbecue sauces . in january 2012 annie s introduced a line of certified organic rising crust frozen pizzas . contents 1 history 1.1 becoming a publicly traded company 1.2 purchase 1.3 food quality issues 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit annie withey 2 co founded annie s homegrown with andrew martin in 1989 . initially the company only sold natural macaroni and cheese in new england supermarkets . in 1995 annie s completed a direct public offering that raised 1.3 million . 3 in 1999 john foraker an owner of homegrown natural foods which made flavored olive oils and mustards and his company invested 2 million in annie s. 3 an agreement was reached that would buy out withey and martin s shares in the company and make annie s a private company . 3 withey became annie s inspirational president and the company began distributing its products to chains like costco kroger and safeway . 3 in 2002 solera capital became the majority investor in the company with 23 million . they also added foraker s company to the business and moved annie s headquarters from boston to berkeley california . 3 in 2005 the company bought out annie s naturals a sometimes organic salad dressing and condiment company founded by annie christopher of north calais vermont . 3 in january 2012 annie s announced the introduction of a certified organic rising crust frozen pizza line the first of its kind . annie s certified organic pizza line is exclusive to whole foods market . on january 22 2013 the company initiated a voluntary recall of annie s homegrown frozen pizza due to the possible presence of fragments of flexible metal mesh caused by a faulty screen at a third party flour mill . annie s initiated its voluntary recall as a precaution because the pieces of the fine wire were too small to be detected by the comprehensive metal control programs in place . 4 on february 4 2013 annie s announced that its rising crust frozen pizzas would begin shipping again to stores nationwide on february 11 2013 . 5 on april 3 2014 annie s opened their first bakery manufacturing plant purchased from safeway inc. and located in joplin missouri that currently has an estimated 100 employees . citation needed becoming a publicly traded company edit the majority of stock of annie s was owned by solera capital llc . 1 in december 2011 annie s filed with the sec to raise up to 100 million in an initial public offering . 6 purchase edit general mills bought annie s on 8 september 2014 for 820 million . 7 food quality issues edit annie s issued a recall of its bunny grahams food product in 2011 . 8 9 see also edit list of food companies references edit a b annie s homegrown inc. . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 2009 04 13 . annie s founder still farming annie s founder stays close to roots as company wows wall street hartford courant . articles.courant.com . 2012 07 25 . retrieved 2014 03 23 . a b c d e f casserly meghan october 28 2013 . the homegrown success and mild indigestion of annie s natural foods . forbes . annie s voluntarily recalls annie s homegrown frozen pizza products . fda.gov . retrieved 2014 03 23 . press release annie s homegrown . investors.annies.com . retrieved 2014 03 23 . annie s announces filing of registration statement for proposed initial public offering . annie s. 5 december 2011 . archived from the original on january 9 2012 . general mills buys annie s for 820 million archived copy . archived from the original on 2016 03 04 . retrieved 2015 10 24 . https nativesunjax.wordpress.com 2011 03 14 voluntary recall of select annies bunny grahams comments external links edit annie s homegrown v t e general mills historical figures cadwallader c. washburn charles alfred pillsbury james ford bell william de la barre adelaide hawley cumming cereals boo berry cheerios chex cinnamon toast crunch cocoa puffs cookie crisp count chocula franken berry french toast crunch golden grahams honey nut cheerios honey nut clusters kaboom kix lucky charms nesquik oatmeal crisp reese s puffs total trix wheaties brands betty crocker green giant hamburger helper old el paso progresso totino s wanchai ferry pillsbury jus rol pillsbury toaster strudel snacks bugles chex mix fruit by the foot fruit gushers fruit roll ups gardetto s nature valley shark bites dairy go gurt h agen dazs libert yoplait baking betty crocker bisquick gold medal flour natural and organic annie s homegrown cascadian farms food should taste good l rabar former colombo yogurt pet inc. squeezit other betty crocker kitchens cereal partners worldwide the general mills radio adventure theater mill city museum pillsbury bake off pillsbury doughboy key innovations dsv alvin hazard analysis and critical control points project strato lab skyhook balloon space food retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title annie % 27s homegrown & oldid 744397338 categories organic foodfood manufacturers of the united statescompanies based in berkeley california1989 establishments in connecticutcompanies established in 1989food and drink in the san francisco bay areahidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from march 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 14 october 2016 at 23 27 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view