Van Camp's

Van Camp’s is a brand of canned beans currently owned by ConAgra Foods, Inc. Their products typically consist of beans stewed in a flavored sauce. Van Camp's has for some time been the second best selling brand of baked beans in the United States competing with Bush's Baked Beans.

The brand originated in 1861 in the Indianapolis grocery store of Gilbert and Hester Van Camp, who canned fruits and vegetables for their own shop. They obtained a U.S. Army contract during the American Civil War to can and ship pork and beans to the troops. Their son, Frank, is credited with the development of Van Camp's canned pork and beans recipe, by adding tomatoes from the family's preserved vegetable business to the traditional salt pork-based sauce, and went on to found Van Camp Seafood. However, on the label of a can (best by Feb. 2014), it states that "Gilbert Van Camp discovered something great when his wife, Hester, added tomato sauce to an old family recipe. Their son, Frank, perfected the taste by slow cooking premium ingredients to ensure a rich flvor and unparalleled product consistency, and by 1909, Van Camp's was the number one selling pork and bean brand in the United States. This inconsistency between stories is also present on their website: "America’s #1 Pork & Beans since 1909! Van Camp’s Pork & Beans traces its roots back to 1861 when Gilbert Van Camp and his wife Hester opened a family grocery store in Indianapolis, IN where they canned fruits and vegetables. Gilbert’s son, Frank, discovered that their Pork & Beans tasted even better when served hot in tomato sauce. He began to advertise the notion, and an American favorite was born."

The firm is considered to have been a trend-setter in the canned foods industry, and by 1909, Van Camp’s was the dominant vendor of pork and beans. 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., with the resultant combined company headquartered in Indianapolis. In the 1970s, Stokely-Van Camp agreed to produce, market and distribute a new beverage called Gatorade. The drink was the first sport beverage, and eventually would generate more in sales than the rest of SVC's other products combined. In 1983, the brand passed to Quaker Oats when it purchased Stokely-Van Camp. Quaker Oats, in turn, sold off the Stokely brand in 1985 to Seneca Foods, and sold Van Camp's to ConAgra in 1995.

Over the years, a number of canned goods have been sold under the Van Camp’s name, but as of 2005 it only sells canned cooked beans, including pork and beans, baked beans, butter beans, kidney beans, a vegetarian variant of its pork and bean recipe, and “Beanee Weenee” - a mixture of beans with slices of hot dog made of beef and chicken in a tomato sauce.