Pepperidge Farm
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (June 2010) |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Campbell Soup Company |
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| Industry | Food processing |
| Founded | 1937 |
| Headquarters | Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Key people | Irene Britt (President) Kenneth Gosnell (Senior Vice President of Finance) |
| Products | Cookies Crackers Breads Desserts Goldfish Crackers |
| Website | www.PepperidgeFarm.com |
Pepperidge Farm is a commercial bakery in the U.S. founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which in turn was named for the pepperidge tree, Nyssa sylvatica. It is based in Norwalk, Connecticut. In 1961, it was acquired by Campbell Soup Company.
Its products include Milanos, and Nantucket cookies, Goldfish crackers, and varieties of bread. It distributes Tim Tams in the US, manufactured by another Campbell's subsidiary in Australia and also Pirouettes, made in Indonesia.
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History [edit]
Margaret Rudkin began baking bread in 1937 for her youngest son Mark who had asthma and was allergic to most commercially processed foods. She home-baked bread that her allergic son could eat. Her son's doctor recommended it to his other patients and encouraged her to bake more bread. She approached the owner of a local grocery store to see if he would be willing to sell her "Pepperidge Farm" bread. After tasting a slice, he took all the loaves she had brought with her and placed an order for more. Margaret's husband Henry, a Wall Street broker, began taking loaves of bread with him to New York to be sold in specialty stores. She soon moved the growing business out of her kitchen and into her garage, then into a factory in 1940. Rationing during World War II forced her to cut back production due to ingredient shortage. In 1947 Margaret opened a modern commercial bakery in Norwalk, Connecticut.
On a trip to Europe in the 1950s, Rudkin discovered fancy chocolate cookies that she believed would be popular in the United States. She bought the rights to produce and sell them, and the Distinctive Cookies line was born. Under her management, Pepperidge Farm continued to expand into other products, including frozen pastry items and, later, the Goldfish snack cracker from Switzerland. In 1961 she sold the business to the Campbell Soup Company and became the first woman to serve on the board. She drew on her knowledge and experience to write The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook in 1963,[1] which was the first cookbook ever to make The New York Times Best Seller list.
There was a long-running series of commercials promoting Pepperidge Farm that ran on television for three decades starring radio actor Parker Fennelly as the spokesman, playing the role of the often nostalgic philosopher, starting in the late 1950s and lasting through the late 1970s. Fennelly died in 1988 at the age of 96. Several of the commercials he starred in played into the 1980s.
Gallery [edit]
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Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies (mint chocolate flavor)
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Nantucket chocolate chip cookie
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The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook, 1965
In popular culture [edit]
- In an episode of The Golden Girls, Sophia complained about the high price of Pepperidge Farm cookies and said not to buy them with her money.
- In 2004, the music group Animal Collective sampled a 1985 Pepperidge Farm commercial featuring Parker Fennelly talking about blueberry muffins in the song "Muffins",[1] which they performed live occasionally. In 2005 the song was released on the "Grass" single retitled as "Must Be Treeman" a variation of the first line the man says, "must be dreaming".
- In an episode of Family Guy ("Hell Comes To Quahog"), a Pepperidge Farm advertisement was parodied.[2]
- In an episode of Futurama ("A Fishful of Dollars") Fry is seen watching a parody of an old Pepperidge Farm commercial.[3]
- In an episode of Seinfeld ("The Trip"), George notices a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies in a Los Angeles Police car, to which Jerry replies, "Cops eating Milanos. What crazy town is this?"
- In the Whitest Kids U Know skit "Dinosaur Rap", Pepperidge Farm is mentioned and a bag of their crackers is seen.
- In an episode of Friends ("The One Where Eddie Won't Go"), Chandler references Goldfish, or as known in the UK 'Finz', by saying their previous goldfish was not real as it was from Pepperidge Farm.
- In the 2012 film Ted, Ted and John talk about Boston women and mention their craving for Pepperidge Farm after sex.
References [edit]
- ^ Rudkin, Margaret (1963). The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook. New York: Atheneum. OCLC 990147. Reprint: New York: Galahad Books, 1992. ISBN 9780883658000. OCLC 27690339.
- ^ Butler, Kirker (2006). Family Guy season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Hell Comes to Quahog". DVD. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt (1999). Futurama. Season 1, episode 6 "A Fishful of Dollars". 20th Century Fox.
