Goldfish (cracker)


Goldfish is a brand of fish-shaped crackers with a small imprint of an eye and a smile manufactured by Pepperidge Farm, which is a division of the Campbell Soup Company. The brand's current marketing and product packaging incorporate this feature of the product: "The snack that smiles back! Goldfish!", reinforced by Finn, the smiling goldfish mascot with sunglasses. The product is marketed as a "baked snack cracker" on the label with various flavors and varieties.
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History

Oscar J. Kambly originally invented goldfish crackers at Swiss biscuit manufacturer Kambly in 1958 to celebrate his wife, who was a Pisces, an astrological symbol whose shape is of a fish. Pepperidge Farm founder Margaret Rudkin introduced Goldfish crackers to the United States in 1962 after having tried them while on vacation in Switzerland. The five initial flavors of Goldfish crackers launched in the US were lightly salted, cheese, barbecue, pizza, and smoky. Cheddar cheese, the brand's most popular flavor, was not introduced until 1966. In 1988, astronauts brought Goldfish Crackers with them on the STS-26, Discovery. In 1997, the smiley face was added to Goldfish, appearing on approximately 40% of the crackers.

2000s

Pepperidge Farm has expanded the Goldfish brand significantly in recent years, introducing numerous limited-time flavors and varieties beyond the traditional cheddar and pretzel options. These included Mega Bites in 2022 and limited-edition flavors such as Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice Grahams and Frank's RedHot. Due to its popularity, the Frank's RedHot flavor has since been added to the permanent lineup. The company has also experimented with potato-based Goldfish crisps to achieve a potato chip-like flavor.
According to Campbell Soup Company, these innovations have contributed to Goldfish's position as the fastest-growing cracker brand in the United States in 2024, with sales increasing by 33% since 2021. In October 2024, the company announced that online sales of the product would be branded as "Chilean Sea Bass" for one week to appeal for adults.

Flavors

Goldfish crackers are available in many varieties, but start/end dates of production are unknown:

Different shapes and colors

These are differently shaped or sized Goldfish variants.

Discontinued products

International distribution

Goldfish are exported and sold in countries around the world. In the UK, they are sold under the name "Finz", but the product is identical. In Switzerland, the original Goldfish flavor is marketed under the brand name Goldfischli.
Goldfish was also sold under Arnott's branding in Australia.

Spin-offs

Pepperidge Farm has created several spin-off products, including Goldfish Sandwich Crackers, Flavor-Blasted Goldfish, Goldfish bread, multi-colored Goldfish, and Baby Goldfish. There are also seasonably available color-changing Goldfish and colored Goldfish. There was once a line of Goldfish cookies in vanilla and chocolate; chocolate has reappeared in the "100 calorie" packs.

Legal issues

In 1999, Campbell Soup Co.'s Pepperidge Farm won a court case involving Nabisco's Cheese Nips CatDog crackers that had fish-shaped crackers that resembled Goldfish. The court ordered Nabisco to refrain from using the goldfish shape and to recall all their products that included the fish shape.

Recalls

On July 23, 2018, Pepperidge Farm was notified by one of its ingredient suppliers that whey powder may have the presence of salmonella. The Flavored Blasted Xtra Cheddar crackers were recalled due to a possible risk of the salmonella outbreak. Three other Goldfish varieties were also recalled due to contamination of the salmonella bacterium caused by the same affected whey powder used in The Flavored Blasted Xtra Cheddar GoldFish crackers. The contaminated varieties of Goldfish were immediately removed from all stores where they were sold following the recall.

In popular culture

Julia Child liked Goldfish crackers so much that on Thanksgiving, she often put out a bowl alongside her famous reverse martini.
In Season 1, Episode 9 of The West Wing, character Danny Concannon gives C. J. Cregg a pet goldfish after misunderstanding a comment about C.J.'s affinity for the crackers.