Alphonse Biardot arrived from France to New Jersey in 1880 with a background in traditional gastronomy.
In 1886, he and his two sons opened a commercial kitchen in Jersey City launching the Franco-American Food Company.
The launch coincided with rapid industrial changes. Canning technology had advanced significantly, dropping cooking times from six hours down to thirty minutes. At the same time, expanding cities created a massive demand for cheap, shelf-stable food that required no daily market trips.
Thus, Biardot produced the first commercial canned soup.
He drove sales through active marketing. He gave public tours of his factory to prove cleanliness and wrote a book detailing his soups*. By 1889, the company offered seventeen varieties, including consommé chicken gumbo and options marketed specifically for invalids. High-income travelers encountered the brand when luxury Pullman and B.&O. buffet cars began serving the soups.
The product line expanded quickly. During the 1890s, the company introduced canned spaghetti à la Milanaise, becoming the first successful mass producer of canned pasta in the United States.
The business grew rapidly. In 1915, the Joseph Campbell Company purchased the firm as its very first corporate acquisition.
Campbell’s gradually phased out the Franco-American soup labels over the following two decades. However, the canned pasta line survived under that name for nearly a century.
*Books
- Franco-American Soups: How They Are Made, by A. Biardot, published by the Franco-American Food Company in Jersey City Heights around 1900–an illustrated, 33-page advertising book.
- Franco-American Soups and Other Specialties: A Description of Each Variety, circa 1902, credited to A. Biardot.