Paul Newman, co-creator of Newman's Own, passed away last week. Created on a lark in 1982, the racecar driver and sometime actor decided to sell a salad dressing he had created and bottled for friends at Christmas. Since then, the brand has expanded to include, among other foods, lemonade, popcorn, spaghetti sauce, salsa, organic Fig Newmans and wine.
Much of its success can be attributed to good product from a taste perspective as well as staying ahead of trends. Newman's Own Organics, a label for pretzels, cookies, fair-trade coffee and even pet foods, became a division of the company in 1993. Despite its celebrity endorsement (Mr. Newman's smiling face is on all labels), the product is also reasonably priced at retail.
Perhaps as much as Ben & Jerry's, Newman's Own is also well known for its charity connections. All its profits, more than $200 million, have been donated to charity. Much of the money was used to create a number of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, named for the outlaw gang in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," in which Mr. Newman starred alongside Robert Redford. The camps provide free summer recreation for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. Actively involved in the project, Mr. Newman even chose cowboy hats as gear so that children who had lost their hair because of chemotherapy could disguise their baldness.
The legendary actor was also actively involved with the company, whether taste-testing new products or presiding over the finals of a Newman's Own recipe contest.
"He really loved good food, so he was really involved in the business," Kirsten McKamy, who worked for Newman's Own for eight years, told the Hartford Courant. "He wasn't just a figurehead; he came up with ideas."
Although formal succession plans are unclear, most signs indicate that Mr. Newman had transitioned out of the day-to-day operations.
"He's a taster," Nell Newman, the actor's daughter who runs Newman's Own Organics, told CNN Money. "We don't put him in the middle of the process because it can be tedious."
On the business side, Mr. Newman is also known for Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good, a book co-written with Newman's Own co-founder A.E. Hotchner.
"It's an absolutely wonderful blueprint for starting a company just using your common sense," said publisher Nan Talese of the book, which was recently reissued in paperback. "Paul's legacy is a whole new image of philanthropy."
Discussion Questions: Why has Newman's Own been so successful? What does its marketing and philanthropic success say about how brands can be brought to market? What's Mr. Newman's legacy in the retail food business?