Our History

1881 Open for business –
as a saloon!

In the late 1800s, farmers and brewers had a complementary relationship: brewers needed spent grains hauled away, and farmers used spent grains as livestock feed.

When brewers visited the Emmert’s saloon, they complained that farmers were always late to pick up the spent grains. The Emmert founders saw a business opportunity. They began picking up spent grains from the breweries and selling it to the farmers – and a new business was born.

1920s THE INNOVATIVE SPIRIT
IS BORN

By the 1920s, a new generation was running the family business. However, Prohibition made times tough for the young company to survive.

As most Cincinnati breweries closed, the grain supply thinned. To meet continued demand from loyal customers, Emmert innovated. We became one of only a few businesses nationwide to dry and ship the small amounts of grain we received. “Buffalo Brand,” as it was called, was Emmert’s first branded product.

1930s AN ATTITUDE OF EVOLUTION

What began as simply surviving the Prohibition period sparked a spirit of innovation that continues at Emmert today. In the late 1930s, the Company developed a proprietary process for adding wet cane molasses to brewers grain. “Molasso-Malt” soon became an indispensable ingredient for dairy rations throughout the Midwest and became Emmert’s best-selling product for the next 20 years.

1960s INGREDIENT PRODUCT
LINES EXPAND

As a new generation took over, the family business enjoyed a growing reputation in the feed industry. Forging ahead with new products, BGY35 launched as a specially dried brewers yeast ingredient and became the preferred source of brewers yeast for livestock feed and pet food manufacturers across the eastern United States.

Over the next two decades, Emmert developed and marketed ingredients based on the nutritional benefits of brewers yeast. These included livestock feed, pet foods and even organic fertilizer.

1980s CONSUMER PRODUCTS
ARE BORN

The next generation introduced two revolutionary consumer products based on the nutritional benefits of BGY35: ShowBloom for livestock, and Edge for pets. ShowBloom and Edge made brewers yeast available to consumers in a species-specific, convenient and affordable form.

In 1985, Sow Bulk Plus was introduced as a natural fiber laxative and appetite enhancer for sows during farrowing and lactation.

Early 2000s RESEARCH-PROVEN GROWTH CONTINUES

With a line of respected ingredients and consumer products on the market, Emmert continued steady growth. Research in the feed industry was proving what we had known for more than a century – that yeast is invaluable for animal health.

As yeast grew in popularity, the Company began a series of field trials that led to the development of BGY28, a lower-protein ingredient for livestock production operations. It was a huge success and continues to anchor the Emmert ingredient line today.

CENTURY-OLD LEGACY
FORGES AHEAD

Since 1881, each generation has contributed to Emmert’s rich tradition of Performance That Shines. Today the sixth generation of the Emmert family continues the legacy of teamwork, customer trust, and innovative product excellence.

We still follow our founders’ service model – always looking for opportunities to do what is best for the business, our customers, our employees, and all the animals we feed.