Donald G. Tober, cofounder, chairman and chief executive of Sugar Foods Corp., committed suicide on Jan. 15 by jumping from his Manhattan apartment building, according to police. The family said Tober was facing the increasingly debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease. He was 89.
New York City-based Sugar Foods, founded by Tober’s father Harry in 1948, was owned by Tober and Stephen Odell. The company initially sold sugar in 100-lb. bags but later discovered it was far more profitable to sell single-use packs. The company’s pioneering product was Sweet’N Low, the artificial sweetener that remains a staple in the food and coffee services sectors.
Sugar Foods did not manufacture Sweet’N Low but made the brand sold in pink packets a fixture in restaurants, breakrooms and homes. Today, Sugar Foods sells N’Joy sweetener brand instead of Sweet’N Low. (Sweet’N Low, whose main ingredient is saccharin, was introduced in 1957 by Cumberland Packing Corp. of Brooklyn.)
Tober also served as former chairman of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, vice chairman of the Culinary Institute of America and as a board member of the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association. He was a patron of associations that serve to elevate the quality and appreciation of food and wine, including of the Commanderie de Bordeaux and the Chevaliers du Tastevin and the Culinary Institute of America, where he was Trustee Emeritus. He was a founder and honorary board member of the Citymeals-on-Wheels program in New York City.
The foodservice icon and wife Barbara’s contributions positively impacted a tremendous range of institutions beyond the food business. Read more
