Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company, American manufacturer, incorporated in 1922 but dating to a canning firm first established in 1869, that is the world’s largest producer of soup. It is also a major producer of canned pasta products; snack foods, such as cookies and crackers; fruit and tomato juices; canned sauces; and chocolates. The company’s products are sold in 120 countries around the world. Headquarters are in Camden, N.J.

In 1869 Joseph Campbell (died 1900), a fruit merchant, and Abram Anderson, an icebox manufacturer, formed a partnership in Camden to can tomatoes, vegetables, preserves, and other products. In 1876 Anderson left the partnership, and Campbell joined with Arthur Dorrance to form a new firm, which in 1891 was named the Jos. Campbell Preserve Company (incorporated 1901). In 1894 Campbell retired, and three years later Dorrance’s nephew, J.T. Dorrance (1873–1930), joined the company and introduced the idea of condensed soups. The soups with the familiar red-and-white label appeared in 1898 and, after winning the Gold Medallion at the Paris Exposition in 1900, were labeled with that medallion thereafter.

In 1905 Joseph Campbell Company became the new corporate name, changed to Campbell Soup Company in 1922 upon reincorporation. J.T. Dorrance became president of the company in 1914. His brother Arthur C. Dorrance became president of Franco-American Food Co., when acquired in 1921, and president of Campbell Soup in 1930. After World War II the company gradually began to diversify by acquiring producers of juice, frozen foods, bakery goods, and candy. It also established subsidiary Campbell Soup manufacturers in several foreign countries.

In 1954 Campbell Soup took its stock public on the New York Stock Exchange and then began a string of acquisitions, including the frozen-foods company C.A. Swanson & Sons (1955– ); Pepperidge Farm, Inc. (1961– ); Godiva Chocolatier (1974–2008); and Vlasic Foods, Inc. (1978–98). In 1981 Campbell introduced its Prego spaghetti sauces.

In 2006 Premier Foods, the United Kingdom’s largest food producer, purchased Campbell Soup’s subsidiaries in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2008 Campbell entered a licensing agreement with Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc., that allowed the company to sell Wolfgang Puck soup, stock, and broth products, thereby expanding Campbell’s organic soup offerings.

Campbell’s charitable activities include its Labels for Education program, which provides educational equipment to schools in exchange for Campbell product proofs of purchase. In 2008 the company pledged $10 million to the city of Camden’s Public Benefit Plan for community improvement.