Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by Conagra Brands. The company was founded by Italian immigrant

Ettore Boiardi Ettore Boiardi (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985), better known by the Anglicized name Hector Boyardee, was an Italian-American chef, famous for his eponymous brand of food products, named Chef Boyardee. Early life Boiardi was born in Pia ...

in Milton, Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1928.

History

After leaving his position as head chef at the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, a ...

in New York City,

opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d'Italia in 1924 at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The idea for Chef Boiardi came about when restaurant customers began asking Boiardi for his spaghetti sauce, which he began to distribute in milk bottles. Four years later, in 1928, Boiardi opened a factory and moved production to Milton, Pennsylvania, where he could grow his own tomatoes and mushrooms. He decided to anglicize the name of his product to "Boy-Ar-Dee" to help Americans pronounce his name correctly. The first product to be sold was a "ready-to-heat spaghetti kit" in 1928. The kit included uncooked pasta, tomato sauce, and a container of pre-grated cheese. The U.S. military commissioned the company during World War II for the production of army rations, requiring the factory to run 24 hours a day. At its peak, the company employed approximately 5,000 workers and produced 250,000 cans per day. After the war ended, Boiardi had to choose between selling the company or laying off everyone he had hired. He sold the company to American Home Foods in 1946 for nearly $6 million, and remained as a spokesman and consultant for the brand until 1978. American Home Foods turned its food division into International Home Foods in 1996. Four years later, International Home Foods was purchased by ConAgra Foods, which continues to produce Chef Boyardee canned pastas bearing Boiardi's likeness.

Products

Chef Boyardee products are available in cans or single-use

microwavable A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce t ...

cups. Throwback recipes * Spaghetti & balls * Meat Lovers Pasta * Mini Ravioli Beef

Ravioli Ravioli (; singular: ''raviolo'', ) are a type of pasta comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a traditional food in Italian cuisine. Ravioli are commonly square, though o ...

* Beef Ravioli * Beefaroni * Lasagna Spaghetti * Spaghetti & Meatballs (can, microwavable cup) * Jumbo Spaghetti & Meatballs (can) * Mini Spaghetti & Meatballs (can) * Mini Spaghetti Rings & Meatballs (can, microwavable cup) Beefaroni * Beefaroni (can, microwavable cup) * Big Beefaroni (can) Ravioli * Beef Ravioli (can, microwavable cup) * Mini Ravioli (can) * Chicken Ravioli (can) * Cheese Ravioli In Tomato Sauce (can) * Cheese Ravioli In Meat Sauce (microwavable cup) * Overstuffed Beef Ravioli (can) * Overstuffed Italian Sausage Ravioli (can) * Mini Beef Ravioli & Meatballs (can, microwaveable Cup) * Mini Micro Beef Ravioli (microwaveable cup) Lasagna * Lasagna (can, microwavable cup) Fun Flavors * Pasta With Chicken And Vegetables (microwave cup) * Cheesy Rice (microwave cup) * Spaghetti In Tomato Sauce (microwave cup) * Pasta In Butter Sauce (can, microwaveable cup) * Paw Patrol (can, microwavable cup) * Mac & Cheese (can, microwavable cup) * Rice With Chicken & Vegetables (microwavable cup) * Cheesy Burger Macaroni (can) * Mini ABC's & 123's With Meatballs (can, microwavable cup) * Mini ABC's & 123's Without Meatballs (can) * Chicken Alfredo (can) * Mini Pasta Shells & Meatballs (can, microwavable cup) Pizza & Sauces * Cheese Pizza Maker * Pepperoni Pizza Maker * Pizza Sauce With Cheese * Spaghetti sauce With Meat

Discontinued products

As of 2021, the following products are no longer in production.

Advertising

In 2018, Barbara Lippert of '' Advertising Age'' compared the 1966 Young & Rubicam ad for Beefaroni to '' The 400 Blows'' and running of the bulls. The ad features a large group of children running through

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

singing, "Hooray...for Beefaroni!" Lippert believed the ad influenced other famous commercials such as Prince Spaghetti (known for "Anthony! Anthony!") and " Hilltop" for Coca-Cola. Chef Boyardee is one of the only brands to request to be removed from an episode of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''. In the episode "

The Rye "The Rye" is the 121st episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It was the 11th episode of the seventh season, originally airing on January 4, 1996. It was written by American comedian Carol Leifer. In this episode, Elaine's relationship with her ...

", Kramer is allowed to operate a Hansom cab for a week, and feeds the horse excess cans of Beefaroni, which causes frequent and foul smelling flatulence. As a result of the request, the name was changed to "Beef-a-reeno".

Legal issues

In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was brought against the Chef Boyardee company. The lawsuit alleged false advertisement on the part of Chef Boyardee. Their product labels stated that they contained no preservatives, yet they contained citric acid. The plaintiff who filed the class-action lawsuit was demanding more than $5 million in damages. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2016.

References

External links

Official siteHector Boiardi (Encyclopedia of Cleveland History)Gallery of classic graphic design featuring Chef Boyardee1960s TV ad for Beefaroni
{{ConAgra Conagra Brands brands Food advertising characters Male characters in advertising Mascots introduced in 1928 Products introduced in 1928 Defunct companies based in Cleveland Companies based in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Pasta Canned food Italian-American cuisine fr:Chef Boyardee