Pepperidge Farm

Margaret Rudkin, a Connecticut housewife and mother of three young children, discovers one of her sons has an allergy to commercial breads that contain preservatives and artificial ingredients. So in 1937, she begins experimenting with baking her own preservative-free bread for her ailing son -- ultimately perfecting a delicious whole-wheat loaf that contained only natural ingredients. Encouraged by her family and her son's doctor, she begins a small business out of her kitchen selling her "Pepperidge Farm" bread to local grocers. Named for her family's farm in Fairfield, Connecticut, consumers recognize her homemade bread's quality and buy every loaf she baked

The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook becomes the first cookbook to chart on The New York Times Bestseller List in 1963.

From our beginning in Margaret Rudkin's kitchen in 1937 to today, Pepperidge Farm has changed a great deal, but one thing has never changed, our commitment to quality. It's a tradition that began with our entrepreneurial founder, and proudly continues to this day.

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