Evenflo
 | |
| Industry | Consumer Products |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1920 |
| Headquarters | Evenflo Feeding, Inc.: West Chester, Ohio Evenflo Company, Inc.: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Products | breast pumps, baby bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups, car seats, strollers, booster seats, stroller wagons, travel systems, safety gates, high chairs, play yards, stationary activity centers, infant carriers, doorway jumpers |
| Owners | Kimberly-Clark de México: Evenflo Feeding Inc., Goodbaby International Holdings Limited: Evenflo Company, Inc. |
| Divisions | Evenflo Feeding, Inc. (Feeding), Evenflo Company, Inc. (Juvenile Travel & Home Safety) |
| Website | www |
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Evenflo Company, Inc. operates the juvenile travel and home safety businesses with products that include car seats, travel systems, safety gates, high chairs, play yards, stationary activity centers, infant carriers and doorway jumpers. Evenflo Company Inc. has two manufacturing facilities: one in Piqua, Ohio, and one in Tijuana, Mexico.
Evenflo is a 100 year old infant feeding brand. Evenflo Feeding, Inc. is headquartered in West Chester, Ohio and has had a presence in Ohio since being founded in 1920 as the Pyramid Rubber Company. Evenflo Feeding manufactures breast pumps, baby bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups.
History
[edit]The Evenflo brand traces its roots back to the 1920 founding of the Pyramid Rubber Company in Ravenna, Ohio. Initially, the company was a manufacturer of products related to baby feeding. In 1995, Evenflo Company, Inc. was created through the merger of Evenflo Juvenile Products and Evenflo Juvenile Furniture Company (formerly known as Questor Juvenile Furniture Company).
The company was acquired by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., together with Spalding in 1996 and again in 1997 by Gerry Baby Products Company, a division of Huffy Corporation. In 2004, Harvest Partners another private equity firm, acquired the company. Harvest sold Evenflo to Weston Presidio in 2007.[1]
In January 2012, Evenflo Company Inc. sold their feeding business to Kimberly-Clark de México, a personal and family care products company in Mexico.[2] From then on, Evenflo-branded products began to be marketed under the names “Evenflo Baby”, and “Evenflo Feeding” respectively. Nearly a year later, in November 2012, Evenflo Company, Inc. sold their Ameda® breastfeeding business to Platinum Products Holding, Inc. (a portfolio company of Crimson Investment).[3]
Evenflo Company, Inc. was officially acquired by Goodbaby International Holdings Limited in July 2014.[4] Goodbaby International is a durable juvenile products company that is listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (1086:HK). The Group designs, researches and develops, manufactures, markets and sells strollers, children's car seats, cribs, bicycles and tricycles and other durable juvenile products.
Over the years, Evenflo has received industry recognition for its products and designs including several Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) Innovation Awards in categories such as Child Restraint Systems,[5] Design/Fashion,[5][6] Strollers,[6] and Best in Show.[7] Evenflo’s products are also winners among parents. Consumer-driven awards include the Best Innovative Car Seat and Stroller Combo[8] in the Parents’ Best For Baby Awards in the Best for On the Go category plus National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA) for their car seats,[9][10] travel systems,[11] and stroller wagon.[12]
Products
[edit]Evenflo's core products include breast pumps, baby bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups, car seats, strollers, travel systems, baby gates, portable play yards, stationary activity centers, and home baby proofing essentials.
Booster seat controversy
[edit]A 2020 article by ProPublica asserted that Evenflo sold booster seats recommended for child weights lower than suggested by the company's engineers, who reportedly recommended that the company stop selling booster seats for children who weighed less than 40 pounds. The article also asserted that company advertising that those booster seats were "SIDE IMPACT TESTED" was misleading because there was no government standard for side-impacting testing and the company’s internal testing did not adequately support that the seats eliminated risk in the event of a crash. [13][14][15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Harvest Partners Sells Evenflo Company, Inc". Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "Evenflo to Sell Its Feeding Business to Kimberly-Clark de México". Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "Evenflo Sells Its Ameda® Breastfeeding Business". Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "Evenflo to be Acquired by Goodbaby International". Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "2023 JPMA Innovation Awards Winners - Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association". www.jpma.org. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ a b "JPMA Announces This Year's Most Innovative Baby Products at The 2019 Innovation Awards Ceremony - Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association". www.jpma.org. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "EVENFLO GOLD REVOLVE360 NAMED 2021 JPMA INNOVATION AWARD WINNER". www.gbinternational.com.hk. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Best for Baby Award Winners for On the Go, According to Parents". Parents. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "Evenflo Gold Revolve360 - Best for Travel". NAPPA Awards. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "Evenflo Gold SensorSafe EveryStage Smart All-in-One Convertible Car Seat - Best for Baby". NAPPA Awards. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "Evenflo Pivot". NAPPA Awards. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "Pivot Xplore All-Terrain Stroller Wagon - Best Baby Products". NAPPA Awards. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ Daniela Porat; Patricia Callahan (February 6, 2020). "Evenflo, Maker of the "Big Kid" Booster Seat, Put Profits Over Child Safety". ProPublica. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ Daniela Porat; Patricia Callahan (February 6, 2020). "Evenflo, Maker of the "Big Kid" Booster Seat, Put Profits Over Child Safety—Internal video of side-impact tests shows that children could be injured or killed in Evenflo's "Big Kid" booster seats. But the company continued to market them as "side-impact tested."". Retrieved February 8, 2020.
- ^ Nicole Pelletiere (February 7, 2020). "Investigation into Evenflo car booster seat reveals children could be at risk—Crash test videos and a report on the car seat manufacturer has been released". ABC news. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020.