Beloved Pasta Sauce Brand Rao's Homemade Will Soon Be Part Of The Campbell Soup Family
What do Ina Garten, Costco shoppers, and food giant Campbell Soup Company all have in common? They all seem to agree that for jarred pasta sauce, one brand stands above the rest — Rao's Homemade. Campbell's must have noticed the hubbub surrounding the jarred pasta sauce brand (named after the famous Rao's Italian restaurant in New York City) because it just announced that it has purchased Sovos Brands, the company that owns Rao's. Rao's, along with Michael Angelo's Frozen Foods and Noosa Yogurt, was sold to Campbell's for $2.7 billion (via The Washington Post). So what does this mean for everyone who swears that Rao's is the only sauce worth buying?
While Campbell's will benefit from the purchase by adding a line of pasta sauce to its brand, some are wondering what will happen to Rao's. It seems that the biggest benefit for the sauce brand is an expanded reach. Rao's was already performing well for Sovos Brands, generating nearly 70% of sales in 2022 and growing 34.9% year over year. According to a Campbell's press release, Sovos Brands' portfolio will benefit from Campbell's established supply chain and will also see increased distribution, with plans to make Rao's and Michael Angelo's household names. But what do fans of Rao's have to say?
Rao's fans are skeptical
It's always scary when one of your favorite food brands goes through a big change because there's always the chance that the products you love will be changed, too. This seemed to be on many Rao's sauce fans' minds after the news of Campbell's acquisition of Sovos Brands was announced. Replying to a post about the sale on Twitter, one person said, "Here comes the high fructose corn syrup," while another said, "@CampbellSoupCo will destroy them."
The most feverish discussion happened on the Costco subreddit, where a post about the sale has, so far, racked up more than 700 comments. Several commenters said they planned to stock up on jars of Rao's now, fearing a recipe change. And when one commenter dramatically said, "I'm glad my father didn't live long enough to witness this tragedy," another retorted, "I'm thinking about killing my own father, so he won't have to witness it." It sounds like people are seriously skeptical about the sale of Rao's to Campbell's Soup Co., but as usual, only time will tell if Rao's pasta sauce remains worthy of its spendy price point.