Chef Boyardee

File:Chef Boyarde (7494944432).jpg, as seen from across the West Branch Susquehanna River at Central Oak Heights]]

After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Ettore Boiardi opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d'Italia ("The Garden of Italy") in 1924{{cite web|last=Abraham|first=Lisa|title=Your favorite food icons: Fact or fiction?|url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/lifestyles/fooddrink/s_769558.html|work=The Tribune-Review|publisher=Pittsburgh|access-date=29 December 2011|date=29 November 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131093931/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/lifestyles/fooddrink/s_769558.html|archive-date=31 January 2013}} at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.{{cite web|author=Pengo|title=Chef Boyardee|website=Cleveland Centennial|date=22 May 2011|url=http://clevelandcentennial.blogspot.ca/2011/05/chef-boyardee.html|access-date=28 April 2013}}{{Circular reference|date=September 2020}} 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. In 1928, Boiardi met Maurice and Eva Weiner, who were patrons of his restaurant and owners of a local self-service grocery store chain. The Weiners helped the Boiardi brothers develop a process for canning the food at scale in Cleveland. They also procured distribution across the United States through their grocery's wholesale partners.{{cite web |last=Farenish |first=Melissa |title=The iconic chef on the pasta cans has a lasting legacy in Milton, Pa. |website=NorthcentralPA.com |date=29 December 2021 |url=https://www.northcentralpa.com/life/the-iconic-chef-on-the-pasta-cans-has-a-lasting-legacy-in-milton-pa/article_c3a90cee-746d-11eb-aeaf-a74c390d3f48.html |access-date=2 February 2025}}{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19940622&id=1hQcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YXwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6741,1308512| newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune| title=Carl Colombi served up Chef Boy-Ar-Dee idea| first=Bonnie| last=Frey| date=June 22, 1994| page=4B| access-date=9 August 2022}} 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 grated cheese.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eatmedaily.com/2010/06/natural-history-of-the-kitchen-chef-boyardee/|title=Natural History of the Kitchen: Chef Boyardee|website=Eat Me Daily|date=8 June 2010|last=Butler|first=Stephanie|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203165907/http://www.eatmedaily.com/2010/06/natural-history-of-the-kitchen-chef-boyardee/|archive-date=3 February 2020|url-status=dead}} By 1938, the company had outgrown its Ohio facility, and production was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, where they could grow their own mushrooms and there was a ready supply of tomatoes.

Image:ChefBoyardeeMinibites.jpg

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, production was scaled down and many of the wartime hires became expendable. Rather than lay them off, he sold the company to American Home Foods in 1946 for nearly $6 million. Boiardi remained as a spokesman and consultant for the brand until 1978.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mashed.com/80512/untold-truth-chef-boyardee/|title=The untold truth of Chef Boyardee|last=Kelly|first=Debra|date=15 August 2017|website=Mashed|language=en-US|access-date=7 February 2020}} 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 continued to produce Chef Boyardee canned pastas bearing Boiardi's likeness.{{cite web|title=Meet the Real Man Behind the Brand|website=Chef Boyardee|publisher=ConAgra Foods|url=http://www.chefboyardee.com/history|access-date=28 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602093656/http://www.chefboyardee.com/history|archive-date=2 June 2013}}

In 2025, Chef Boyardee was sold to Brynwood Partners under its portfolio company Hometown Food Company.{{cite web |last1=Newman |first1=Jesse |title=Chef Boyardee, Iconic Pasta Brand, Sold to Private Equity for $600 Million |url=https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/chef-boyardee-sold-brynwood-private-equity-67bbbb1e?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink |website=Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Company |access-date=2 May 2025}}

Chef Boyardee is one of the few brands to request to be removed from an episode of Seinfeld. In the 1996 episode "The Rye", 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".{{Cite magazine|title=Seinfeld and brand-name products|last=Baldwin|first=Kristen|date=30 May 1997|url=https://ew.com/article/1997/05/30/seinfeld-and-brand-name-products/|access-date=1 July 2020|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|publisher=Meredith Corporation|language=EN}}

In 2005, Chef Boyardee was shown in MasterCard's "Icons" commercial during Super Bowl XXXIX, which depicts advertising mascots having dinner together.{{Cite web |title=Mastercard Priceless {{!}} Experiences make life more meaningful. |url=https://www.priceless.com/m/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=Priceless |language=en-US}}

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 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.{{cite journal|url=https://adage.com/article/news/classic-ad-review-chef-beef-canned/314123|title=The Chef Whose Beef Got Him Canned|last=Lippert|first=Barbara|journal=Advertising Age|date=9 July 2018|page=32|volume=89|issue=15|access-date=16 January 2020|url-access=subscription}}

• SpaghettiOs

{{reflist}}

{{commonscat}}

• [https://www.chefboyardee.com/ Official site]
• [https://case.edu/ech/articles/b/boiardi-hector Hector Boiardi (Encyclopedia of Cleveland History)]
• [http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?advertiser=BOY%25AR%25DEE Gallery of classic graphic design featuring Chef Boyardee]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euo086SUjls 1960s TV ad for Beefaroni]

{{ConAgra}}

Category:Conagra Brands brands

Category:Food advertising characters

Category:Male characters in advertising

Category:Mascots introduced in 1928

Category:Products introduced in 1928

Category:Defunct companies based in Cleveland

Category:Companies based in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

Category:Pasta

Category:Canned food

Category:Italian-American cuisine

fr:Chef Boyardee