How the Goldfish Cracker Swam Its Way Into Space

For each of the 135 flights it made, the space shuttle program never failed to churn up plenty of media coverage. But few launches drew more attention than STS-26, Discovery’s launch on Sept. 29, 1988. This was the Return to Space mission following the Challenger’s explosion two years and eight months earlier. Accordingly, reporters scoured NASA’s 68-page statement to expound upon features like the new Crew Escape System and the redesigned solid rocket boosters. But few (if any) noticed a detail that appeared at the bottom of page 57. It, too, made STS-26 a distinctive launch in its own tiny way. That page listed the meals the crew members would be eating in space, plus their snacks, including one box of Goldfish crackers. Pepperidge Farm’s famous orange crunchy snack was literally about to hit its peak. In a sense, that development wasn’t so surprising. Lower Earth orbit was one of the few places that Goldfish crackers hadn’t been yet. With Campbell Soup Company’s new baking facility in Willard, Ohio, cranking out 50 million Goldfish crackers daily, it’s little wonder these crunchy snacks—which turn 60 this year—have swum their way into millions of cupboards. As we know, two years of pandemic living has made snacking something of a national pastime. And that’s much to the benefit of these tiny orange munchies. According to data from market research firm IRI, dollar sales of Goldfish in the 2022 fiscal year were up 9% over 2021, as Americans took home more than 334 million boxes of the snack. “When you look at it from an equity perspective—what it means to people—but then also what it means financially to us,” Campbell Snacks CMO Janda Lukin told Adweek, the Goldfish cracker “is incredibly important to the company.” Curiously or not, however, the R&D gurus at Pepperidge Farm—which Campbell's bought in 1961—didn’t invent them. Baker-turned-entrepreneur Margaret Rudkin, who started her business in 1937 (and really did live on a farm in Connecticut called Pepperidge) was always on the lookout for new products. During a vacation to Switzerland in 1962, she came across some crunchy, fish-shaped crackers called Goldfischli and arranged with Swiss biscuit maker Kambly to bake them here. When Goldfish crackers hit U.S. store shelves later that year, they came in varieties, including smoky and barbecue. The signature orange cheddar-flavored fish didn’t appear until 1966. Among the crackers’ early fans was none other than Julia Child, who put them out for dinner guests. “She thought they were the perfect pairing to have with her Reverse Martinis,” Lukin said. Two decades later, NASA thought Goldfish was a perfect pairing, too. Shelf-stable snacks were just what the astronauts needed: The shuttle had no refrigerator. How big was that fish? One of Goldfish crackers’ enduring qualities is their size. In fact, the product’s original name was Goldfish Tiny Crackers. (The company soon dropped the “tiny” because consumers understood.) According to Campbell’s, a serving size is 55 Goldfish. And since that fistful of fish has only 5 grams of fat, many snackers feel comfortable helping themselves to more than one scoop. Earlier this year, however, Pepperidge Farm stirred things up by introducing Mega Bites—fish that were 50% larger than their forebears. Bigger fish might take some getting used to, but the sharp cheddar taste and orange color remain unchanged. Off the hook Starting with home-baked bread in 1937, Margaret Rudkin (1) built Pepperidge Farm (2) into a baking colossus by the 1940s (3). Originally billed as Goldfish Tiny Crackers (4), the crunchy, fish-shaped snack from Switzerland was an instant hit in America (5). In 1988, astronauts on the Space Shuttle Discovery took Goldfish to space (6). Today, the brand's many varieties include Flavor Blasted with extra cheddar, varicolored Goldfish and unlikely flavors like vanilla cupcake (7).

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How the Goldfish Cracker Swam Its Way Into Space

A Connecticut woman turned a Switzerland fish into the ‘snack that smiles back’

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara