Did You Know Chef Boyardee Was a Real Person?

Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin is the co-founder of Part Time Vegan and Silent Book Club. As a former editor at Real Simple, she is compulsively organized and loves solving people's problems. She has a weakness for desserts, especially ice cream.
published Sep 16, 2014
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OK, he didn’t spell his name the same way, but Ettore “Hector” Boiardi was a real person. (Clearly, the spelling change was to help consumers know how to pronounce his name.)

And he’s just one of the 33 grocery store brands named after real people. What other brands are on the list?

Boiardi was the the name of a chef who worked in the Plaza Hotel and was in charge of the kitchen by age 17. Chef Boyardee carries on his (phonetically, anyway) on every can of cheese ravioli.

Mental Floss found more surprising instances of real people living on packaged goods, including Birdseye vegetables, Granny Smith apples, and Kraft cheese.

Check out the full list on Mental Floss to get a brief bio of each of the notable food purveyors.

→ Read more: 33 Grocery Store Staples Named After Real People from Mental Floss