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Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB), 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.
[edit] HistoryCampbell's was founded in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell and Abraham Anderson, an icebox manufacturer.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] Dorrance, a gifted[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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.[1] 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 breads, cookies, and crackers, Franco-American's gravies and pastas, V8 vegetable juices, Swanson broths, and Godiva's 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.[citation needed] A "pretty groovy deal" in 1968 offered a paper Souper Dress available for $1.00 and two labels.[citation needed] 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's Mercury Theatre On The Air. Campbell's took over as sponsor of the radio theater program in December 1938. In the UK and Ireland, Campbell Soup was rebranded as Batchelors Condensed Soup (UK) and Erin (Ireland) in March 2008, when the license to use the brand name expired. Premier Foods, St. Albans, Hertfordshire bought the Campbell Soup Company in the UK and Ireland, for £450m ($830m) in 2006, but was licensed to use the brand only until 2008. Under this agreement the US-based Campbell Soup Company will continue to produce Campbell's Condensed Soup but cannot sell the product in the UK for a further 5 years.[2] [edit] In pop art For further information, see Campbell's Soup Cans. In 1962, artist Andy Warhol took the familiar look of the Campbell's soup can and integrated it into a series of pop art silkscreens, a theme he would return to off and on through the 1960s and 1970s. The first batch in 1962 were a series of 32 canvases. At first, the cans were accurate representations of actual Campbell's cans, but as his series progresed, they became more surrealistic, with Warhol experimenting with negative-reversed color schemes and other varied techniques (many of these which would be used on other Warhol paintings of the period, such as his celebrity silkscreens of the 1960s.) The silkscreens themselves have become iconic pieces of pop art, with one in particular, Small Torn Campbell Soup Can (Pepper Pot) (1962), commanding a price of $11.8 million at auction in 2006. In 2004, Campbell's themselves recognized Warhol's art by releasing in the eastern United States a limited-edition series of cans that were inspired by the coloring and silkscreen effects of Warhol's pieces. This marked one of the few times in the company's history that they would change the trade dress for their main canned-soup line in any substantial manner. [edit] HealthMany canned soups, including Campbell's condensed and Chunky varieties, contain relatively high quantities of sodium and thus are not desirable for those on low-sodium diets. However, Campbell's Chunky, Healthy Request and other soups, as well as their V-8 and Tomato juices, have reduced sodium levels.[3]. 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.[4]. By autumn 2009, Campbell's claims it will have lowered the sodium content in 50% of its soups range.[5] [edit] BrandsCampbell's owns numerous brands, categorized for different lines. Many of Campbell's brands are listed below. [edit] Soups
[edit] Meatballs[edit] Meal kits
[edit] Pace
[edit] Pepperidge Farm
[edit] Prego
[edit] Swanson
[edit] Beverages
[edit] Food services
[edit] Other brands
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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