Campbell's: growth, acquisitions and a dividend reset

Condensed soup, acquisitions and a smaller dividend: the company history behind the figures.

Watch the short

A soup company grew to $10.3 billion in sales in fiscal 2025. Then it reduced its dividend. The figures belong to different parts of the story: what the business sold, what it bought, and what it chose to distribute to shareholders.

From condensed soup to acquisitions

The business began in Camden, New Jersey, in 1869, when Joseph Campbell and Abraham Anderson formed a firm. In 1897, chemist John T. Dorrance developed the process of condensing soup. Campbell's credits the invention with making soup more affordable for families.

The company became Campbell Soup Company in 1922 and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1954. It acquired Pepperidge Farm in 1961. That business had been founded by Margaret Rudkin in 1937.

Expansion also brought changes of direction. In 1998, Campbell's spun off Vlasic Foods International, including Swanson frozen foods and Vlasic pickles. It later acquired Snyder's-Lance in 2018 for $6.112 billion in total consideration, including debt it paid off. In 2024, it bought Sovos Brands, the owner of Rao's, for $2.899 billion. Later that year it adopted the name The Campbell's Company.

Read the sales figures with the calendar

Net sales were $9.636 billion in fiscal 2024 and $10.253 billion in fiscal 2025. The latter contained an extra week, which matters when comparing annual totals. Fiscal 2026 sales were $9.744 billion, a decline of 5.0% from fiscal 2025. These figures describe reported sales; they do not by themselves isolate changes in underlying demand.

Interest expense and the dividend reset

Net interest expense was $184 million in fiscal 2023, $328 million in fiscal 2025 and $323 million in fiscal 2026. In its fiscal 2025 filing, the company attributed increases in interest expense primarily to acquisition funding and higher average interest rates. That explanation concerns interest expense; the figures here are net interest expense, after interest income.

In September 2026, the board reduced the annualized dividend rate from $1.56 to $1.00 per share, a cut of 36%. The company said it wanted to accelerate debt reduction. These are annualized rates, not the total dividends declared or paid during a fiscal year, and the stated purpose is not evidence that the intended result has already happened.

What to watch in the next filings

That leaves the question at the end of the film: will the smaller dividend bring the debt down faster? The company's future filings, rather than the announcement alone, will provide the record to follow.

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Fiscal years, not calendar years: FY2026 ended August 2, 2026.