“That’s one giant leap for Stouffer’s!”

‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for Stouffer’s!’  When you think about NASA, frozen meals don’t exactly leap to mind. But did you know that Stouffer’s helped nourish the US astronauts when they returned from their successful 1969 moon landing?

And, in 1970, aquanauts on the Tektite 2 marine research program feasted, in the depths of the Atlantic near the US Virgin Islands, on Stouffer’s. That’s one impressive résumé. And a giant leap given the brand’s humble beginnings.

Stouffer’s began life as a restaurant chain in 1920s Cleveland, Ohio. Customers started asking for cooked meals to take away, and Stouffer’s began selling frozen starters. Soon this lucrative sideline demanded a store in its own right.

After the Second World War, Stouffer’s sales increased as more women entered the workplace and demanded ready-made meals. By now the brand needed to manufacture on a large scale, and it branched out into a wide range of frozen favourites – from meatloaf and macaroni cheese to Salisbury steak.

We bought Stouffer’s in 1973, and by 2004 it was the leading frozen meals brand in the US. And it isn’t stuck in a deep freeze. For example, in 2015, we launched Stouffer’s Fit Kitchen: nutritious, satisfying meals with big flavours.

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