John Wesley Speas bought the Monarch Vinegar Company in 1888 and became
president of the company in 1895. In 1909 his son Victor Speas took over and
renamed it as Speas Vinegar Company in 1918. In 1959, Speas began bottling apple
juice as well as vinegar and by the 1970s the company had expanded to include 21
plants throughout the United States. The plant in Sebastopol, California also produced
apple jack brandy. Victor Speas died in 1971, and the company was then managed by
a trust until it sold to Pillsbury in 1978. Bank of America, formerly First National
Bank of Kansas City, was the trustee of the Speas foundation.