ALLENDALE, N.J. — Snack and confection maker The Promotion In Motion Cos. Inc. will celebrate its 40th anniversary by giving back to charity. In honor of its anniversary, the company is donating 4 million pouches of its Welch’s Fruit Snacks to Feeding America, the country's largest hunger-relief organization. The nearly 10 truckloads of product are being made available to food banks across the United States.
Started with just $150 in 1979 from the college dorm room of Founder and still CEO Michael Rosenberg, Allendale, N.J.-based Promotion In Motion incorporated with $10,000 in 1980. The company has organically grown to become one of the largest snack and confection producers in the world.
From its first product, Annie Cookies, to creating Care Bear Gummi Bears, which it originally imported from Germany and sold for over 25 years, to its transformational invention of Welch’s Fruit Snacks, now a market-leading fruit snack brand, Promotion In Motion has grown steadily over its 40 year history, the company said.
Most recently, in 2020, Promotion In Motion began a nearly $20 million renovation and expansion for new global headquarters in the former officers of Hertz Corp. in Park Ridge, N.J. The new HQ will include extensive R&D labs, tasting and sensory labs, along with expansive office and conferencing space for its now 150 corporate associates. Additionally, with demand still growing strong, Promotion In Motion added another 310,000-square-foot distribution center in Somerset, N.J. The distribution center will house nearly 46,000 pallets, equaling almost 2,000 full truckloads of its products, along with a new factory outlet store to open in late 2021.
“The past 40 years have been filled with challenges, successes, obstacles, innovation—but always fun and endless opportunity,” said Rosenberg. “I could never have imagined some of the amazing milestones that we have accomplished as I sat in my dorm room mapping out a future for the modest enterprise I envisioned. But the same passion, drive, electricity and excitement remains today as it did in 1979 and 1980.
“We’ve especially been blessed with dynamic talent, dedication and commitment by the associates in all corners of our company, from our headquarters offices, to our sales professionals domestically and abroad, and from our distribution centers to the manufacturing lines at our plants here in New Jersey and across the world.”
Rosenberg said he looks forward to another 40 years of innovation and growth, as the company continues “to excite consumers of all ages, and for all eating, treating and snacking occasions.”
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