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.

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 was not a popular staple in the American diet at the turn of the 20th 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 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. 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 cannot 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 iconic 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 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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, 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.. 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 Ladle: Name used in Australia for range of home style soups
• Tomato Soup Lovers
• Simply Home Soups
• Wolfgang Puck Soups: Campbell bought the soup business from Wolfgang Puck Worldwide Inc. in an agreement that allows Campbell to use the Wolfgang Puck brand on soup, stock and broth products in North America as well as the option to expand the brand into other areas.

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) - Purchased from Groupe Danone in 1997, Liebig is the leading aseptic soup brand in France.
• Oxo (UK) - Sold 2006
• Raguletto
• Royco (France & Belgium)
• StockPot Soups (Everett WA, USA)

Notes

References

• Collins, Douglas (1994). America's Favorite Food: The Story of Campbell Soup Company. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-2592-3
• Shea, Martha Esposito and Mathis, Mike (2002). "Images of America: Campbell Soup Company". Arcadia Publishing ISBN 0738510580

External links

• Campbell's Official website
• Campbell's Canadian website
• Campbell's Nourish The Nation Food Drive