[1] In 1925, Vincent Taormina, who had traveled east to start a tomato importing business, and Giuseppe Uddo merged their companies.

They were so successful selling tomatoes that they sold more orders than they could fill and needed funds to set up the infrastructure for a larger canning operation.

Giuseppe Uddo, who had already established a national canning operation, brought the Taorminas on board to form a new merged company.

The resultant company was "The Uddo and Taormina Corporation" and they created the Progresso label,[1][2] specializing in canned Italian food products, which became mostly soup, olive oil, tomatoes, spaghetti, ravioli and beans, sold since 1949.

[6] For the last 20 years, Progresso soup has been seen as an upmarket alternative to market leader Campbell and as a meal replacement.