Franco-American (Campbell's)

This article is about the food company and brand. For Franco-Americans (i.e., Americans of French descent) see French American.

Franco-American is a brand name of the Campbell Soup Company.



The original Franco-American Food Company was founded by Alphonse Biardot, who immigrated to the United States from France in 1880. In 1886, he and his two sons opened a commercial kitchen in Jersey City, New Jersey, featuring the foods of his native country. The company proved a success, particularly with its line of canned soup and pasta, and it was acquired by Campbell's in 1915.

The Franco-American name was phased out over the next two decades for soup products and in the late-1990s for pasta products. However their product line was still sufficient enough to continue advertising well into the 1970s, with Barry Manilow performing their jingle "Who Can? Franco Ameri-Can". On November 18, 2004, Campbell's announced it was discontinuing the name for pasta products in favor of its own, "to boost sales of what had been Franco-American's canned SpaghettiOs, RavioliOs and regular spaghetti, along with beef, chicken and turkey gravy varieties sold in cans and jars."

SpaghettiOs was a widely known product of Franco-American, first sold May 16, 1965. SpaghettiOs are variously-sized rings of cooked pasta in a sweet tomato and cheese sauce, sold in cans. According to one account, Campbell's food chemist Ralph Miller was inspired by a signature dish of the company chef, sliced...
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