Everything about Campbell S Soup totally explained
Campbell Soup Company (also known as
Campbell's) is a well-known
American producer of
canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in
Camden,
New Jersey. The company reportedly produces almost 2.5 billion
cans of soup per year.
History
Campbell's was founded in
1869 by Joseph A. Campbell and Abraham Anderson, an
icebox manufacturer. The company was originally called the "Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company" and produced canned
tomatoes,
vegetables,
jellies, soups,
condiments, and
minced meats.
By
1896, Anderson left the partnership, leaving Campbell to reorganize and form a new company, Joseph Campbell & Co. In
1897, a nephew of one of the new Campbell partners, Dr.
John T. Dorrance, began working for the company at a wage of $7.50 a week. Dorrance, a gifted chemist with degrees from
MIT and
Göttingen University,
Germany, developed a commercially viable method for condensing soup by halving the quantity of its heaviest ingredient:
water.
Soup wasn't a popular staple in the American diet at the turn of the century, but it was in
Europe. However, Dorrance's condensed soups quickly became successful among the public for their convenience and their price, 10 cents a can. The product competed at the
Paris Exposition in
1900 and was awarded a gold medal, an image of which still appears on the label.
In
1898, Herberton Williams, a Campbell's executive, convinced the company to adopt a cherry red and bright white color scheme, because he was taken by the crisp colors of the
Cornell University football team's uniforms.To this day, the layout of the can, with its red and white design and the metallic gold medal seal from the 1900 Paris Exhibition, has changed very little.
Campbell Soup became one of largest food companies in the
world under the leadership of
William Beverly Murphy. He was elected executive vice president of Campbell Soup in
1949 and was president and
CEO from
1953 to
1972. While at Campbell's Soup Company, he took the corporation public and increased its brand portfolio to include Pepperidge Farm's pale breads, golden brown cookies, and buttery crackers, Franco-American's rich gravies and pastas, V8 vegetable juices, Swanson broths, and Godiva's rich dark and milky brown Chocolates.
Campbell Soup invested heavily in
advertising since its inception, and many of its promotional campaigns have proven value in the
Americana collectible advertising market. Perhaps best known are the "Campbell Kids" who though color scheme represented the recognizable soup.
Ronald Reagan was a spokesman for
V8 when it was first introduced. A "pretty groovy deal" in
1968 offered a paper Souper Dress available for $1.00 and two labels. Also produced were Campbell's Menu Books and
Help for the Hostess series of cookbooks. One of the longest lasting recipes, but certainly odd to modern tastebuds, is the recipe for a maroon colored Tomato Soup Cake.
In addition to collectible advertising, the company has also had notable commercial sponsorships. Among these was
The Campbell Playhouse, which had previously been
Orson Welles'
Mercury Theatre On The Air. Campbell's took over as sponsor of the radio theatre program in December of
1938.
In the UK and Ireland, the cans will be rebranded as Batchelors Condensed Soup from March 2008(since the license for the brand name expires in mid 2008) but labels will carry: "
Formerly Campbell's. Same great taste."
Premier Foods,
St. Albans,
Hertfordshire bought Campbell Soup Company in the UK and Ireland, for £ 450m ($ 830m), but not the brand. 22 flavours will be branded as Batchelors but recipes will remain the same. Also, US-based Campbell Soup Company will still produce Campbell's Condensed Soup but can't sell the product in the UK for another 5 years.
Over the years there was various flavors created to eat at the table or to go.
In Pop Art
The ubiquitous red-and-white icon became fodder for
Andy Warhol, the
1960s pop
counter-culture artist, in his famous series of iconoclastic
Campbell's Soup Can images from
1962 to
1968. Each can, hand painted to perfection and almost machine like in quality glorified the simplistic white and red cans with their gold seal as an American icon. Every detail was considered just as the original down to the gold and black script of the word ‘SOUP’ to the simple red print of each flavor. These images are some of the artist's best work, many of which are on display at the Andy Warhol Museum.
To celebrate this, in
2004, the company released a series of four limited edition cans, with different labels than the regular
red and
white. The new ones were in
silkscreen colors, the top half being one shade and bottom another.
Orange and
pink were one combination, and shades of
blue another. This marked one of the few times thus far in the company's 100+ year history that the labels have deviated from their standard look.
The
cans appeared on the
east coast and slowly made their way as far west as
Ohio via
Giant Eagle supermarkets.
Health
Many canned soups, including Campbell's condensed and Chunky varieties, have relatively high doses of
sodium and thus are not desirable for those on low-sodium diets. However Campbell's Healthy Request Soups and Low Sodium Soups have reduced sodium levels.. These soups use
sea salt as one of the methods in lowering sodium. In the fall of 2007, Campbell's was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for their efforts in lowering sodium levels, from
Blood Pressure Canada.
Brands
Campbell's owns numerous brands, categorized for different lines. Many of Campbell's brands are listed below.
Soups
- Campbell's Chunky Soups: Uncondensed soups with large portions of vegetables and other ingredients; especially known for its commercials starring famous NFL players and sometimes their mothers (who want to ensure their sons are "eating good"). The official soup and chili sponsor of the NFL and the NFL Players Association.
- Campbell's Condensed Soups: Campbell's flagship line
- Campbell's Fun Favorites Soups
- Campbell's Healthy Request Soups: Soups with lower quantities of ingredients such as sodium
- Campbell's Kitchen Classics Soups
- Campbell's SelectSoups
- Campbell's OrientalSoups: Chinese Oriental Soups
- Campbell's Soup at Hand Soups: Drinkable soups in special microwave-safe cans
- Campbell's Velish: Name used in Australia for range of vegetarian soups
- Campbell's Country Ladel: Name used in Australia for range of home style soups
- Tomato Soup Lovers
- Simply Home Soups
Meatballs
Campbell's Chunky Meatballs
Meal kits
Campbell's Supper Bakes Meal Kits
Juices
Campbell's Tomato Juice
Pace
Pace Foods: A popular line of salsas
Pepperidge Farm
A brand of homemade-style cookies and snack crackers, such as Goldfish crackers. Pepperidge Farm also markets gourmet cookies, breads, croutons, and stuffing.
Prego
Prego Pasta Sauces
Swanson
Swanson Broth"
V8 beverages
V8 Vegetable Juice
V8 Splash Juice Drinks
V8 V.Fusion
Food services
Campbell Food Service: School cafeteria service
Other brands
Arnott's Biscuits Holdings, Australia's largest supplier of biscuits and second largest supplier of snack foods
Blå Band (Sweden & Finland)
Devos Lemmens (Belgium)
Franco-American
Heisse Tasse (Germany)
Homepride (UK)- Sold 2006
Liebig (France)
Oxo (UK) - Sold 2006
Raguletto
Royco (France & Belgium)
StockPot Soups (Everett WA, USA)Further Information
Get more info on 'Campbell S Soup'.
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