Progresso

Progresso, a brand of General Mills, is an American food company that produces canned soups, canned beans, broths, chili, and other food products.

This article is about the American soup company. For other uses, see Progreso (disambiguation).
Progresso
IndustryFood processing
FoundedNew Orleans, Louisiana (1925 (1925))
FounderVincent Taormina, and Joseph Uddo
ParentGeneral Mills

History

Progresso emerged from the merging of two prominent Italian importing companies in New Orleans, Louisiana.[1] 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,[1][2] specializing in canned Italian food products, which became mostly soup, olive oil, tomatoes, spaghetti, ravioli and beans, sold since 1949.

In 1979, Ogden Corporation bought Progresso for $35 million.[3] In 1986 Ogden Foods was sold to Pet, Inc. for $320 million.[4] In 1995, Pet, Inc. was acquired by the Pillsbury Company, then a subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan.[5] General Mills acquired Pillsbury in 2001.[6]

A can of "Steak and Roasted Russet Potatoes" ready to be heated on the stove

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
  1. "Read the story of Progresso Soup, Broth and Foods - It's all about quality ingredients". Souperyou.imaginepub.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  2. Charles W. Titone, Grandson Frank R. Taormina
  3. "Ogden Unit to Buy Progresso Foods". The New York Times. February 27, 1979.
  4. "Ogden's food unit was sold for $320 million". The Los Angeles Times. October 21, 1986.
  5. "Grandmet Buys Pet Inc. for $2.6 Billion". The Buffalo News. January 9, 1995.
  6. "Diageo to Confirm Pillsbury Deal". The Guardian. 17 July 2000. Retrieved 11 December 2019.


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