Progresso, a brand of
General Mills
General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...
, is an American food company that produces canned soups, canned beans, broths, Chili con carne, chili, and other food products.
History
Progresso emerged from the merging of two prominent Italian
importing companies in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
In 1925, Vincent Taormina, who had traveled east to start a tomato importing business, and Giuseppe Uddo merged their companies. Vincent's family owned the "Taormina Brothers Grocery" of New Orleans, Louisiana. Frank had emigrated from Italy and joined his cousin Vincent in the venture.
They were so successful selling tomatoes that they sold more orders than they could fill and needed funds to set up the infrastructure for a larger canning operation. Giuseppe Uddo, who had already established a national canning operation, brought the Taorminas on board to form a new merged company. The resultant company was "The Uddo and Taormina Corporation" and they created the ''Progresso'' label,
[Charles W. Titone, Grandson Frank R. Taormina] specializing in
canned Italian food products, which became mostly
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
,
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
,
tomatoes
The tomato is the edible Berry (botany), berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to th ...
,
spaghetti,
ravioli
Ravioli (; singular: ''raviolo'', ) are a type of pasta comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a traditional food in Italian cuisine. Ravioli are commonly square, though o ...
and
beans, sold since 1949.
The
Pillsbury Company acquired Progresso in 1988.
General Mills
General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...
acquired Pillsbury in 2001.
Market strategy
For the last 20 years, Progresso soup has been seen as an
upmarket alternative to market leader
Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
, and as a
meal replacement. Progresso cans were both larger than Campbell's cans and came "ready-to-heat" rather than being
condensed, which helped them attain popularity before Campbell's released the competitive and similar
"Chunky" line of products.
Campbell's Soup Company has since gone on to produce several lines of ready-to-eat soups in reaction to Progresso's innovations.
References
External links
*
General Mills brands
Brand name soups
American companies established in 1925
Food and drink companies established in 1925
1925 establishments in Louisiana
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