For most people, Campbell Company of Canada means soup. But another product in the portfolio might also be attractive to Canadian job applicants: Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers.
The company’s popular fish-shaped crackers come in many flavours, from cheddar to ranch – and in Canada, one more. “Nowhere else in the world, I think, would anybody put ketchup in crackers, but we did!” says Helen Ashton, vice president, human resources. And there’s a reason that they could.
“What is really cool about Campbell compared to some other consumer packaged goods companies is that we’re part of an international company, but we have kept our marketing and research & development departments local,” she adds. “That means we can do true innovation in our marketing in Canada versus adopting what’s been done in other markets.”
All of which means that along with ketchup-flavoured Goldfish crackers, there’s an innovative energy at Mississauga-based Campbell, which includes marketing, sales, R&D corporate, and even a few chefs who take part in tasting and testing.
“One of the things I love about working here is it has this familial entrepreneurial spirit,” says Lily Marando, a business development manager on the Walmart account. “Everyone is so committed to the same objectives.”
And Marando, who handles snack foods including Goldfish crackers, is also a symbol of Campbell’s flexibility and openness. Four years ago, she started off in marketing, but after a year and a half or so, she decided she’d like to move over to sales.
“Traditionally, that’s not an easy transition, moving from marketing to sales or sales to marketing,” she says. “One is behind-the-scenes, often analytical or creative, and the other is customer-facing. But Campbell looks not just at your upward career momentum, but also what you would like to learn, and how we can build the repertoire of experience so that you understand the business more holistically.”
Working with colleagues in other departments, such as marketing, finance, or commercialization, is seamless. “We work really closely together to drive success,” Marando says.
Ashton agrees: “If I had to take two words to describe Campbell’s culture, they would be ‘care’ and ‘collaboration’.” On the care side, she feels the company went further than most to make people feel supported during the pandemic, including direct conversations among employees and top executives. “I think what sets us apart from all the companies I’ve worked for in the last 20 years is how accessible and approachable our senior leadership team is,” says Ashton, who joined the company in 2020.
Campbell also focused on its team’s overall well-being, offering online fitness classes, organizing coffee chats, and creating peer support groups where people could talk about everything from parenting to gardening, often with expert facilitators.
The pandemic, Ashton adds, provided an opportunity to talk about inclusion and diversity, “not just about gender or race, but also working style – the introvert and the extrovert, for instance. Do you need to get a pre-read three days before the meeting because you want to internalize the information and participate better?”
To support work-life balance, Campbell has adopted a set of “meeting effectiveness principles.” These cover how -and when- meetings are conducted. “No meetings start before 9:30 a.m., and no meetings end after 4:30,” says Ashton. “There are no meetings on lunch, and no meetings on Friday afternoons.” Although there might be an exception to taste the latest Goldfish cracker varieties.
