Mother Murphy’s started as a side business. But it didn’t take long for it to become a full-time passion for our founder, Kermit L. Murphy, Sr.
We think Kermit would be proud to see how our company has grown since 1946. We also think he’d be pleased that it’s still owned and operated by the Murphy family.
1946: Kermit Murphy Sr. and Dr. Richard Stelling begin developing and selling food flavoring in the Ponoma area of Greensboro, N.C. Murphy sold their flavoring to local bakeries.
1947: Murphy convinces 14 investors to help him set up Southern Laboratories. Stelling decides to focus on his medical practice, so Murphy recruits a veteran chemist to continue to build the company’s flavor library.
1949: Southern Laboratories moves to a larger building and secures $56,000 worth of business. Around this time, the company begins supplying its fruit-flavored bases to the military for use in beverages.
1954: Southern Laboratories introduces its first vanilla flavoring, a category that will become the company’s main focus for many years.
1955: Southern Laboratories changes its name to Mother Murphy’s Laboratories, Inc.
1958: Kermit’s brother, L.M. “Pete” Murphy joins the company.
The 1960s: Mother Murphy’s expands its offerings to include sweet flavorings and begins producing products for the food and beverage industries.
1965: The Murphy brothers design and build a new facility on South Elm Street to house Mother Murphy’s. It has served as the company’s main production facility and corporate headquarters ever since.
The 1970s: The company begins offering flavorings for the dairy industry.
The early 1990s: Mother Murphy’s extends its offerings to most sectors of the flavorings market.
1994: Mother Murphy’s opens a commercial baking test facility in Dallas.
2011: Mother Murphy’s opens a 93,000-square-foot distribution center less than a mile from its corporate headquarters.
