Play PC games on your Mac? TUAW tests CrossOver.

AOL Money & Finance

Battle of the Brands: Oscar Mayer vs. Hebrew National

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

While Kraft Foods Inc.'s (NYSE: KFT) Oscar Mayer brand and ConAgra Food Inc.'s (NYSE: CAG) Hebrew National may both have venerable histories, they also have very different personalities: "I wish I were and Oscar Mayer wiener" vs. "We answer to a higher authority."

In 1900, Oscar Mayer and his brothers ran one of the most popular sausage makers in Chicago. They pioneered the use of brand names and voluntary federal approval to protect the reputation of their products. The company was the first to offer packaged sliced bacon. Such innovations helped Oscar Mayer to become an industry leader. The first wiener-mobile rolled out in 1936, and its descendants can still be spotted today. The famous Oscar Mayer jingle was introduced in 1963, and today is one of the longest-running jingles still in use. In 1988 the company launched its Lunchables, prepacked cracker-and-cold-cut school lunches. Oscar Mayer became a Kraft Foods brand in 1989.

Kraft Foods is the largest U.S. food company, with $37.2 billion in sales in 2007. Oscar Mayer is one of seven Kraft Foods brands with more than $1 billion in revenue. The convenience meats category accounted for about 16% of total revenue.

Hebrew National was founded in 1905 in New York City's Lower East Side, and provided kosher sausages and meats to delicatessens. In the 1940s, the company began supplying its products to suburban supermarkets, and went on to become the the largest, most recognized kosher brand in the U.S. The company began using its "higher authority" marketing tag line in 1965, and continued to expand its product offerings. Interest in healthier foods in the 1980s made Hebrew National's no artificial colors or flavors, no fillers, products an appealing option. The company was acquired by ConAgra in 1993, and all Hebrew National products remain certified kosher.

Hebrew National is part of ConAgra's Consumer Foods group, which made up 54% of ConAgra's 2007 revenue of $12 billion.

In a SlashFood taste test, Hebrew National hot dogs scored better than Oscar Mayer ones. Which do find tastier? In the supermarket, which do you reach for, the kids' favorite or the kosher option?

Vote in our poll for Oscar Mayer or Hebrew National as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.

Related Posts

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

New Users

Current Users

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-120.9012,745.88
NASDAQ-5.722,445.52
S&P 500-9.401,388.28

Last updated: May 11, 2008: 11:38 PM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

BloggingStocks Featured Video

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

AOL Business News

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

Sponsored Links

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

Weblogs, Inc. Network