Jell-O is a brand name manufacturer of gelatin desserts, selling their products in the USA.

Although gelatin has been used for many years, the preparation of dessert jellies from gelatin flakes is a laborious process, involving boiling the gelatin with egg whites. The first powdered gelatin for use in desserts was patented in 1845 by Peter Cooper. He did not market his product very effectively, though, and in 1897 sold the patent to cough syrup manufacturer Pearle B. Wait. Wait's wife named the product "Jell-O". The Waits sold Jell-O in strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon flavors. In 1899 Wait sold the business to a neighbor, Orator Francis Woodward, for $450. From around 1900 Jell-O was sold by the Genesee Pure Foods Company (later the Jell-O company, which joined Postum to form the General Foods Corporation, now a brand of Kraft Foods inc.)