Progresso, a brand of General Mills, 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 New Orleans, Louisiana. 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, 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 acquired Pillsbury in 2001.

Market strategy

For the last 20 years, Progresso soup has been seen as an upmarket alternative to market leader Campbell, 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 {{food-product-stub