Chef Boyardee
Canned pasta brand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by Conagra Brands. The company was founded by Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1928.[1][2]
| |
| Product type | Canned pasta products |
|---|---|
| Owner | Conagra Brands |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1928 |
| Website | chefboyardee.com |
History
Summarize
Perspective
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After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Ettore Boiardi opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d'Italia ("The Garden of Italy") in 1924[3] at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.[4] The idea for Chef Boiardi came about when restaurant customers began asking Boiardi for his spaghetti sauce, which he began to distribute in milk bottles.[3] In 1928, Boiardi met Maurice and Eva Weiner, who were patrons of his restaurant and owners of a local self-service grocery store chain. The Weiners helped the Boiardi brothers develop a process for canning the food at scale in Cleveland. They also procured distribution across the United States through their grocery's wholesale partners.[2][5][6] He decided to anglicize the name of his product to "Boy-Ar-Dee" to help Americans pronounce his name correctly.[3] The first product to be sold was a "ready-to-heat spaghetti kit" in 1928. The kit included uncooked pasta, tomato sauce, and a container of grated cheese.[7] By 1938, the company had outgrown its Ohio facility, and production was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, where they could grow their own mushrooms and there was a ready supply of tomatoes.[2][5]
The U.S. military commissioned the company during World War II for the production of army rations, requiring the factory to run 24 hours a day.[2] At its peak, the company employed approximately 5,000 workers and produced 250,000 cans per day.[2] After the war ended, Boiardi had to choose between selling the company or laying off everyone he had hired. He sold the company to American Home Foods in 1946 for nearly $6 million, and remained as a spokesman and consultant for the brand until 1978.[8] American Home Foods turned its food division into International Home Foods in 1996. Four years later, International Home Foods was purchased by ConAgra Foods, which continues to produce Chef Boyardee canned pastas bearing Boiardi's likeness.[9]
Advertising
Chef Boyardee is one of the only brands to request to be removed from an episode of Seinfeld. In the 1996 episode "The Rye", Kramer is allowed to operate a Hansom cab for a week, and feeds the horse excess cans of Beefaroni, which causes frequent and foul smelling flatulence. As a result of the request, the name was changed to "Beef-a-reeno".[10]
In 2005, Chef Boyardee was shown in MasterCard's "Icons" commercial during Super Bowl XXXIX, which depicts advertising mascots having dinner together.[11]
In 2018, Barbara Lippert of Advertising Age compared the 1966 Young & Rubicam ad for Beefaroni to The 400 Blows and running of the bulls. The ad features a large group of children running through Venice singing, "Hooray...for Beefaroni!" Lippert believed the ad influenced other famous commercials such as Prince Spaghetti (known for "Anthony! Anthony!") and "Hilltop" for Coca-Cola.[12]
See also
References
External links
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