Van Camp's is an American brand of canned bean products currently owned by
ConAgra Foods, Inc. Their products typically consist of beans
stewed in a flavored sauce.
Founding
The brand traces its roots back to
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, where in 1861
Gilbert Van Camp and associates
Calvin Fletcher and Martin Williams constructed what became the nation's first successful commercial cold storage warehouse. Primarily concerned with the preservation of fruits and vegetables, Van Camp quickly began experimenting with canning. By 1862 he had started to can fruits and vegetables in the summertime for winter consumption. Shortly thereafter, Van Camp secured a lucrative contract to supply Union troops during the
Civil War.
Van Camp's pork and beans quickly became a wartime staple. Following the war, demand for canned food soared as returning veterans were eager to purchase the food that they had become familiar with. In 1882 the Van Camp Packing Company was founded. They started selling
catsup in 1888.
In 1894, his son
Frank Van Camp first produced the now-famous recipe for pork and beans in tomato sauce. By 1898 the Van Camp Packing Company had increased annual production to six million cans. By 1909 Indiana, bolstered by the Van Camp family's company, became the nation's leading producer of canned baked beans. Frank Van Camp went on to found
Van Camp Seafood.
Company history
The firm is considered to have been a trendsetter in the canned-foods industry. In 1933, it was acquired by James and John Stokely, who operated the Stokely canned
tomato company in
Newport, Tennessee, forming Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. The resultant combined company headquartered in Indianapolis. In the 1940s, the company built two warehouses in Bellingham, Washington. By the 1970s, Stokely-Van Camp agreed to produce, market and distribute a new beverage called
Gatorade. This product was the first
sports drink, and would eventually generate more in sales than the rest of SVC's other products combined.
The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis
' at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
Sale and brand history
In 1983, the brand passed to the
Quaker Oats Company when it purchased Stokely-Van Camp. Quaker Oats sold Van Camp's to
ConAgra in 1995. Stokely was sold to
Seneca Foods in 1985 and currently produces canned beans and other canned vegetables.
Over the years, a number of foods have been sold under the Van Camp's name, including its popular
Tenderoni pasta product. As of 2005 it only sells canned cooked beans, including
pork and beans,
baked beans
Baked beans is a Dish (food), dish traditionally containing white Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans that are parboiling, parboiled and then baking, baked in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. Canned baked beans are not baked, but ar ...
,
kidney beans, a
vegetarian variant of its pork and bean recipe, Chili and ''"
Beanee Weenee"''—a mixture of beans with slices of frankfurter made of beef and chicken in tomato sauce.
See also
*
Gilbert Van Camp
*
Tenderoni
*
Stokely-Van Camp Industrial Complex
References
External links
*
{{ConAgra
Conagra Brands brands
1861 introductions
Indiana in the American Civil War
Baked beans