Newman's Own
Encyclopedia
Newman's Own is a food company and for-profit corporation founded by actor Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...

 and author A. E. Hotchner
A. E. Hotchner
Aaron Edward Hotchner, is an American editor, novelist, playwright and biographer.-Biography:He was born in St. Louis and attended Soldan High School...

 in 1982. Newman received all of the profits from product sales and donated 100% of the proceeds, after taxes, to various education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

al and charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

s of his own selection. Newman's Own has inspired other business, including Give Something Back Business Products, to adopt his social enterprise
Social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies business strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit....

 model. In 1982 Newman summarized his initial intentions regarding distribution of his company's profits:

My profits will be divided between a number of tax-deductible charities and causes, some church-related, others for conservation and ecology and things like that.

History

The brand started with a home-made salad dressing that Newman and Hotchner prepared and gave to friends as gifts. The successful reception of the salad dressing led Newman and Hotchner to commercialize it for sale. After that initial item, made with $40,000 of Newman's own funds as seed money, pasta sauce, frozen pizza, iced tea, lemonade, limeade
Limeade
Limeade is a beverage similar to lemonade, but is made with lime juice or lime flavour instead of those of the lemon. Rose's lime juice, a concentrated drink patented in 1867, is one of the best-known brands. A.G. Barr plc of Glasgow produce a limeade as does Newman's Own since 2004...

, fruit cocktail juices
Juice
Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...

, popcorn, pretzels, salsa
Salsa (sauce)
Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...

, cookies, coffee, grape juice, dog food, cat food, condoms, and other products were produced. Newman's Own Lemonade was introduced in 2004 and Newman's Own premium wines in 2008. Each label features a picture of Newman, dressed in a different costume to represent the product. The company incorporated humor into its label packaging, as in the label for its first salad dressing in 1982, "Fine Foods Since February".

In 1993, Newman's daughter Nell Newman
Nell Newman
Elinor Teresa Newman is a former child actress who performed under the name of Nell Potts. She is an environmentalist, biologist, and a prominent supporter of sustainable agriculture, who became an entrepreneur when she founded an organic food and pet food production company, Newman's Own...

 founded Newman's Own Organics as a division of the company, later to become a separate company in late 2001. It produces only organic foods. Her father posed with her for the photographs on the labels.

Newman and Hotchner co-wrote a memoir about their company and the Hole in the Wall Camps, Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good (ISBN 0-385-50802-6), published in 2003. Newman and Robert Forrester had arranged for the continuation of the distribution of Newman's Own profits to charity after Newman's death through the establishment of the Newman's Own Foundation. After Newman's death on 26 September 2008, some feared that the company would become defunct, but it is expected to continue to prosper.

Charity

Over US$300 million as of November 3, 2010, according to the Newman's Own website had been generated for charity since 1982. The company co-sponsors the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award
The PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award was presented each spring to a U.S. resident who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word. Sponsored by PEN American Center and Newman's Own, a cash prize...

, which is presented annually to a United States resident who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word.

A sampling of grantees is available at the Newman's Own Foundation website along with the distribution of funds by program area. From 2006 to 2008 the largest portions of funding went to human services, health, education, arts, and culture. One beneficiary of his charity is the Hole in the Wall Camps
Hole in the Wall Camps
The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps is a nonprofit organization that unites the world's largest family of camps for children with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. Hole in the Wall Camps are free of charge to all campers and their families regardless of their ability to pay and...

, residential summer camps for seriously ill children, which he co-founded in 1988. Today, there are eleven member camps around the world with additional programs in Africa and Vietnam. Over 135,000 children have attended a Hole in the Wall Camp free of charge, and it is expected that over 17,000 children will attend a Hole in the Wall Camp in 2009. While proceeds from Newman's Own financed the startup of the camp, it now receives funding from many other sources. Other beneficiaries of the profits from Newman's Own have included The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund (from 1983 onwards), the George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver , was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he is believed to have been born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864....

 Community Center (Norwalk), the Safe Water Network, Women of Worth, Stars for Stripes, the Sun Youth Organisation (Montreal), and the Breast Care Centre at Singleton Hospital
Singleton Hospital
Singleton Hospital is a 550 bed hospital located in Sketty Lane, Swansea, Wales, operated by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board. The main building was completed in 1958. The hospital adjoins Singleton Park and the main campus of the Swansea University where there is a nursing school and...

 through the Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

 National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

 Trust.

Newman's Own Organics pays a name licensing fee, directed to the Newman's Own Foundation, to Newman's Own
Newman's Own
Newman's Own is a food company and for-profit corporation founded by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner in 1982. Newman received all of the profits from product sales and donated 100% of the proceeds, after taxes, to various educational and charitable organizations of his own selection...

.

External links

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