Public Media for Central Pennsylvania
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

After more than a century, the Campbell's company drops 'soup' from its name

Cans of Campbell's soup are displayed on a shelf at a grocery store in Richmond, Calif., in 2019. The Campbell Soup Company says it's changing its corporate name to The Campbell’s Company.
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
Cans of Campbell's soup are displayed on a shelf at a grocery store in Richmond, Calif., in 2019. The Campbell Soup Company says it's changing its corporate name to The Campbell’s Company.

After more than a century, The Campbell Soup Company, whose soup cans were famously rendered iconic by Andy Warhol, says it's dropping "Soup" from its corporate name and adding an apostrophe.

The company, which had net sales of $9.6 billion last year, was founded in 1869 as Anderson & Campbell and adopted its current name in 1922.

The Camden, N.J.,-based food giant said changing its name to The Campbell’s Company is "part of its evolution" as it adopts a "new strategy [and] new mission."

“This subtle yet important change retains the company’s iconic name recognition, reputation and equity built over 155 years while better reflecting the full breadth of the company’s portfolio,” Campbell's CEO Mark Clouse told investors this week.

It's just the latest familiar brand to see a corporate name change: Not long ago Twitter became X and Dunkin' Donuts became just Dunkin'.

The Campbell's name change is subject to shareholder approval in November.

In addition to soups, Campbell's also owns a variety of familiar brands including Pepperidge Farm, Prego and V8.

Big consumer names have been under increased pressure in recent years, especially as inflation drives grocery shoppers to seek out store brands to try to save money.

Copyright 2024 NPR