How It All Started
When you buy Mrs. Paul’s® fish, you’re ready to dive into delicious family meals. But where did Mrs. Paul’s start?
In 1946, power plant worker Edward Piszek started selling deviled crab cakes in a local Philadelphia bar to earn money while the plant was on strike. “One Friday, I prepared 172 and we only sold 50,” he recalled later. “There was a freezer in the back of the bar, so we threw ’em in there. It was either that or the trash can.” A week later the frozen crab cakes still tasted fine, so Piszek and a friend, John Paul, each chipped in $350 and started a frozen seafood business.
Piszek's mother pressured her son to name the company after her…but instead, they named it Mrs. Paul's Kitchens after John's mom (originally naming the brand Mrs. Paul’s Kitchen). Piszek bought out his partner in the 1950s but kept the Mrs. Paul's name. In 1982, he sold the company to Campbell Soup; in 1996, it was purchased by Pinnacle Foods Corporation.
