Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
1. Kraft
Today, Kraft is the parent organization of food brands such as Jell-O, Cool Whip, Lunchables, Planters, and more, but when the company was originally founded in Chicago in the early 1900s as J.L. Kraft and Bros. Company, they sold only cheese. Kraft succeeded in part because in 1915 the company invented pasteurized processed cheese that didn't need refrigeration, thus giving it a longer shelf life than conventional cheese.
After a series of acquisitions Kraft was able to expand its offerings and sell additional items such as salad dressings, mayonnaise, and cream cheese, and following an intense period of product development around the 1960s Kraft launched fruit jellies, fruit preserves, marshmallows, barbecue sauces and Kraft Singles—a brand of individually wrapped cheese slices that still exists today.
Several more mergers and acquisitions followed, (including many that involved other brands also on this list) and in 2015 Kraft Foods Group merged with condiment producer Heinz—itself a company that dates back to 1869—to form Kraft Heinz.
2 Oscar Mayer
German immigrant Oscar Mayer founded his namesake company in 1883 in Chicago, Illinois, and with his brother began selling bratwurst, liverwurst, and other meat products that were popular in the predominantly German neighborhoods in the area. Success meant more "Americanized" products such as sausages, hams, bacon, hot dogs, and that jingle-worthy b-o-l-o-g-n-a eventually followed.
Though Oscar Mayer remained an independent company (owned primarily by descendants of the Mayer brothers who started it) for nearly a century, it was sold to General Foods in 1981. Since General Foods merged with Kraft in 1989, Oscar Mayer is now one of Kraft Heinz's many subsidiaries.
3 Nabisco
Though Nabisco can trace its roots back to 1798, it wasn't formally established until 1898 when the New York Biscuit Company and the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company merged over 100 bakeries to form the National Biscuit Company, which later became known as Nabisco. Today, the cookie and cracker producer is known for products such as Chips Ahoy!, Ritz Crackers, Oreos, and more.
Philip Morris acquired Nabisco and merged it with Kraft Foods in 2000, but when Kraft split into snack foods and grocery items in 2012, Nabisco fell under the snack umbrella and became a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
4 Cadbury
Today, Cadbury is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, but when it was founded in Birmingham, England in 1824 by John Cadbury, the brand consisted of nothing more than tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate. After some turbulent early years, the company switched its focus to chocolate and made its mark on the sweets industry in 1861 with Fancy Boxes—a decorated box of chocolates.
Seven years later the boxes were sold in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day, which is how chocolate eventually became associated with the holiday. In 1923, Cadbury first released the Creme egg, which still remains one of its most popular and beloved products. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, Cadbury was purchased by Kraft Foods (them again!) in 2010 and, like Nabisco, soon became a subsidiary of Mondelēz International.
5 The Campbell Soup Company
Campbell's was started in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell, a fruit merchant from Bridgeton, New Jersey, and Abraham Anderson, an icebox manufacturer from South Jersey. The duo got their start by producing canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats. Thanks to an MIT chemist named John Dorrance, Campbell's was one of the first companies to develop a commercially viable method for condensing soup, which put them on a path to success.
In fact, Campbell's was so successful its brand portfolio eventually included Pepperidge Farm's breads, cookies, and crackers, Franco-American's gravies and pastas, V8 vegetable juices, Swanson broths, and Godiva's chocolates. Talk about "mmm mmm good!"
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