Betty Crocker, Uncle Ben, Orville Redenbacher, and Dr. Pepper are a few that come to mind. Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli: A Delicious And Convenient Meal. Yes, Chef Boyardee was an actual person, and for more information about him, look below for a detailed answer on his past. Boiardi continued developing new Italian food products for the American market until his death in 1985. Hes become a household name, but few people actually know the chef behind the brand. He's become a household name, but few people actually know the chef behind the brand. Kat Eschner They changed the spelling of their name on the label, making it phonetic Chef Boy-Ar-Dee so people could pronounce it more easily. Well, a lot, actually. So basically, Chef Boyardee cans are just normal cans. At first, the revised name was Boy-ar-dee, a phonetic spelling of how the family name was pronounced. By 1938, Chef Boyardee expanded again, relocating its headquarters to Milton, Pennsylvania in order to more easily cultivate a specific type of tomato for use in the sauce. Though no longer the owner, he remained the face of the company, appearing in a variety of print and TV ads for the brand until the late 70s, touting an ever-expanding array of canned Italian eats. Real. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. It was also around the time that Boiardi sold to the conglomerate American Home Products. It was famous for spaghetti and meatballs. Although the product sold well, the company name was a sticking point. I love the part about the guy keeping his familys wealth secret until he was sure. Few people are aware that Chef Boyardee, the iconic mustached man on the can of ravioli, was a real person with an amazing story. Answer: While Juan Valdez might sound like the name of a Colombian coffee grower, however his name is completely fictitious. And in 1928, the Chef Boiardi Food Company was born, launched by Hector, Helen,and Hectors brothers Paul and Mario. For producing rations supplying Allied troops during World War II, he was awarded a Gold Star order of excellence[clarification needed] from the United States War Department.[8]. Just remember one thing, lets part friends. He looked at me and said, What the hell are you talking about? He put his hand into my trolley cart, pulled out a can and said, this is my father. We both cried.. Did all the can move on their own? The ad features a large group of children running through Venice singing, "Hoorayfor Beefaroni!" According to his New York Times obituary, Boiardi handled the catering at the reception for Woodrow Wilson's second marriage in 1915, still the most recent example of a presidential wedding. They came in agreement to sell the company and factory to American Home Foods for nearly $6 million. Fictional. Cookie Policy Weird History Food will follow Chef from his humble beginnings as an 11-year-old apprentice to the iconic figure he is today. And that picture on the product labels, of course. Some other real people behind brands, besides Chef Boyardee, were Uncle Ben; KFCs Harland Sanders; popcorns Orville Redenbacher; and McDonalds Dick and Mac McDonald. Boiardi was survived by his wife Helen Wroblewski Boiardi, who eventually died in 1995, and his son Mario Boiardi, who in turn died in 2007. The company specialized in three flavors of sauces: traditional, mushroom, and spicy Naples-style. Ettore Boiardi (October 22, 1897 June 21, 1985), also known by the Anglicized name Hector Boyardee, was an Italian-American chef, famous for his eponymous brand of food products, named Chef Boyardee. Chef Boiardi was awarded a Gold Star Order of Excellence from the United States War Department for supplying millions of rations for American and Allied troops during WWII. I didnt say much and handed the phone back to my friends dad who was shocked I wasnt impressed. It quickly became a family business, when his brothers moved to Ohio to help him with his canning business. Hector Boiardi ran a popular Italian restaurant in Cleveland in the 1920s, and his recipes were so popular that people convinced him to mass-market them. THE #FAMOUSGRAVE OF #CHEFBOYARDEE IN CHARDON #OHIO Born in 1897 in the northern Italian region of Piacenza, Boiardi supposedly used a wire whisk for a rattle and by age 11 was working as an. Ettore Boiardi was an Italian-American immigrant born in 1897. While Boiardi's culinary resume was already quite impressive by the time he relocated to Cleveland, that's where his transformation from Ettore Boiardi to Chef Boyardee began in earnest. As for the products that Hector Boiardi left as his legacy, Anna Boiardi admits that they may not be the same as when her great-uncle made them but it is an alternative for those who just don't have the time to cook. Ettore Boiardi was an Italian-American immigrant born in 1897. With the stock market crashing a year after the company's launch, the Great Depression was a boon for Chef Boyardee and its inexpensive, prepackaged meals, which helped to bring Italian food to the masses. Hector Boiardi ran a popular Italian restaurant in Cleveland in the 1920s, and his recipes were so popular that people convinced him to mass-market them. Afterward, Bioardi ended up moving to Cleveland, Ohio, where he opened up his very own restaurant. When World War II erupted in Europe, the food company was put to work making Army rations. The company, which is today known for its canned meals, especially its ravioli, has changed hands a number of times since. In some cases, the name simply sounds good. Chef Boyardee was a real person. [3] Four years later, in 1928, Boiardi opened a factory and moved production to Milton, Pennsylvania, where he could grow his own tomatoes and mushrooms. It is an excellent and convenient meal that can be consumed quickly and has delighted generations of families. Today, Chef Boyardee sells a variety of classic pasta dishes in both cans and those little microwavable cupsSpaghetti & Meatballs, Beefaroni, Lasagna, and, of course, both meat and cheese ravioli. So he changed his last name's spelling to make it easier to pronounce, slapped it on a can, and boom, Chef Boyardee was born. He was indeed a real. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Jessica Block is a freelance contributor to Sporked, a comedian, a baker, a food writer, and a firm believer that Trader Joe's may just be the happiest place on earth. Again, I was 10 and you could have put me on the phone with the president of the US and I would care less (same goes for today). Terms of Use After the war ended, Boiardi had to choose between selling the company or laying off everyone he had hired. When I see cans of Chef Boyardee Lasagna, I think of ads using Weird Al Yankovics Lasagna as background music. Anthony!") Today I found out Chef Boyardee was a real person. Chef Boyardee is still on store shelves, but the Smurfs version is a thing of the past. After struggling with cash flow, compounded by internal family struggles over the ownership and direction of the company in managing rapid internal growth, he sold his brand to American Home Foods, later International Home Foods. [19] The lawsuit was dismissed in 2016.[20]. Their product labels stated that they contained no preservatives, yet they contained citric acid. After working in New York's Plaza Hotel, he opened his own restaurant. Meet The Real Chef Behind The Chef Boyardee Brand. Colonel Sanders was real. Among his products was a cheesecake named after his young daughter, Sara Lee Lubin. The brand's signature tomato sauce has always been sweet and sort of thin, . He became a food prodigy by age 11 in his native Italy, but later emigrated to New York City in 1915, where. From the Chef Boyardee website: . [5], 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. What a dude. Weird History Food will follow Chef from his humble beginnings as an 11-year-old apprentice to the iconic figure he is today.. He later changed the name of the business to Kitchens of Sara Lee, and when it was later acquired by the Consolidated Foods Corporation, it became one of the companys leading brands. Hector Boiardi, born in 1897, was born in Italy, where he began working at a hotel in his hometown when he was 11 (child labor meant something a little different in the early 1900s.) Juan Valdez of these company figureheads is not a real person.Thus, option B is correct.. What is a company? [2] At its peak, the company employed approximately 5,000 workers and produced 250,000 cans per day. I wish they would bring back the older version of macaroni and cheese with the long noodles and white cheese sauce. [5] Touting the low cost of spaghetti products as a good choice to serve to the entire family, Boiardi introduced his product to the public in 1929. Not much else is known about the real Ben, and its not even his picture on the box. The 17 Real People Behind Your Favorite Food Brand Names Slideshow. Hector Boiardi ran a popular Italian restaurant in Cleveland in the 1920s, and his recipes were so popular that people convinced him to mass-market them. Sara Lee didnt follow her father into the baking business, but instead has worked to encourage and support women working in science. [9][10] His last appearance in a television commercial promoting the brand aired in 1979. Not only that, patrons were asking to take home his sauce to use at their own family dinners. In short, Chef Boyardee was a real person. Wallace Amos was a entertainment talent agent who worked at the William Morris Agency. In several cases it's not clear whether the namesake ever actually lived, and in many cases the person the brand is named after never existed at all. Who is Chef Boyardee? This article is about the canned pasta product line. Probably fictional. When he began selling jars and cans of his tomato sauce, he chose to do so under a name that Americans could pronounce more easily: "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" (later changed to Chef Boyardee). Did Trader Joe's Just Release a Cheaper Momofuku Instant Noodle Dupe? That image is instead said to be based on the matre d' of the restaurant where Harwell and his business partners sometimes met. Chef Boyardee was a very real, very successful chef. The most interesting brand names based on fictitious people, by far, are those that were devised with the express purpose of playing up the concept of "idealized domesticity," which was a big marketing trend around the turn of the 20th century. The Chef Boyardee line was later sold, in 2000, to ConAgra Foods. Using brother Peter's Plaza Hotel connections, Chef "Boy-Ar-Dee" meals ended up on the shelves of A & P grocery stores across the country, by far the largest food retailer in America at the time. Born in 1897 near Piacenza, Italy, Boiardi took to cooking from an early age, supposedly finding work as an apprentice chef at a hotel at the ripe age of 11.When he was 16, Ettore left home, arriving at Ellis Island just months before the outbreak of World War I. by Audrey Engvalson BuzzFeed Staff 1. Before Tim and Nina Zagat, there was Duncan Hines, a traveling . In 1928, as we said already, Ettore and his two brothers founded "Chef Boyardee," a food company specialized in the production and commercialization of Italian style ready-to-eat meals. Later on, the company got sold to American Home Products in 1946, and then later it was turned over to the International Home Foods division in 1996. With all that in mind, it's natural to be skeptical of the origins and credentials of any food company mascot. He did have to sell the company soon after the war, though, in order to make sure that all the extra hands hired for the war efforts could keep their jobs. But after rising to the rank of head chef at the Plaza,he started to put food from his birth country on the menu. Boiardi's product was soon being stocked in markets nationwide the company had to open a factory in 1928 to meet the demands of national distribution. Records from the store show that theyd played around with a similar name before, and had a recipe for a digestive aid called D. His name? So, he changed the product's name to the phonetic Chef "Boy-Ar-Dee." But his goal was always to sail across the Atlantic and join his brother Paul in America. Clevelander Chef Boyardee (born Ettore Boiardi and known as Hector Boyardee after moving to the United States) found his rhythm right here in Ohio, a state he was not native to but that he effortlessly adopted the culture of. According to the company, Uncle Ben was a real rice grower known for high-quality product in founder Gordon Harwells native Texas, and the brand was named for him as an homage. Boiardi originally grew his trademark mustache to try to make himself look older as he was generally the youngest cook in the often top notch restaurants where he was a cook at, starting around 16 when he moved to America. But he remains one the most recognized faces of TV, thanks to his legacy of advertisement. I asked a friend of mine who used to work on the Chef Boyardee line if the cans propelled themselves and just rolled like in the commercial so that the line didnt have to do anything and she just looked at me real weird and started explaining how canning lines work. He was born Ettore Boiardi (or Hector as he was called in English) in Piacenza Italy in 1897. That was because Chef Boyardee meals were included in American soldiers rations. Hector teamed up with his brothers Mario and Paul to found the Chef Boyardee company, using a phonetic spelling of the family's last name to make it easier to pronounce. With all that said, it's pretty clear that Chef Boyardee was the real deal. The classic ready-made pastas are iconic and well known. Dean was already a well-known country singer, actor, and TV personality when he and his brother Don founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company in 1969. The lawsuit alleged false advertisement on the part of Chef Boyardee. Paul Boiardi had moved to America when Hector was a small boy and had quickly found a job waiting tables in New York's Parisian Room at the famous Plaza Hotel. This is a young man on the move. [1] [2] History The Chef Boyardee factory in Milton, Pennsylvania, as seen from across the West Branch Susquehanna River at Central Oak Heights