Frank Van Camp
American businessman (1863–1937)
Frank Van Camp (January 21, 1863 – November 11, 1937) was an American businessman who founded the Van Camp Seafood Company, now known as Chicken of the Sea. He introduced various innovations in the seafood industry, such as refrigerated fishing boats, and has been regarded as a "pioneer of the tuna industry."
Early life
He was born in Brookville, Indiana, to Gilbert Van Camp, of Dutch descent, and Hester Jane Raymond. His father was the founder of the Van Camp's Canning Company.
Career
Van Camp's Canning Company
Van Camp began working at his father's Van Camp's Canning Company as a young adult, eventually becoming Secretary-Treasurer. In 1894, an Indianapolis merchandiser brought a load of canned baked beans to the Van Camp plant to have them reprocessed. At lunch time, Van Camp opened a can to eat with his lunch. The flavor of the beans was flat, so to make them more palatable he added some Van Camps' ketchup, originating "Van Camp's Pork and Beans with Tomato Sauce."
After his father's death in 1900, Frank took over Van Camp's Canning Company. By 1909, Van Camp's was the dominant vendor of pork and beans in the United States. However, due to excessive gambling, the construction of a large mansion in Indianapolis, and unsuccessful attempts to enter the Midwest U.S. tomato market, Van Camp accrued debts of over $1,000,000 by 1912. Due to his financial difficulties, Van Camp was forced to sell 80% of his ownership share of the company to his lenders, effectively ending his association with Van Camp's, which was eventually sold to Campbell Soup.
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This entry incorporates text from “Frank Van Camp” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.