In 1926, Geo. A. Hormel & Co. developed the world’s first canned ham. The transfer of leadership of Hormel from father to son Jay C. Hormel brought new products, including Dinty Moore beef stew, Hormel chili and in 1937 a new canned luncheon meat.
The goal of the new luncheon meat product was to produce an affordable canned meat item that was convenient enough to enjoy every day.
A contest was held in 1937 to give the promising new product a name. New York actor, Ken Daigneau, the brother of then Hormel Food vice president, entered with the name “SPAM.” Speculation indicates the name was a way to shorten “SPiced hAM.”
Daigneau won $100 for the contest and, his name is mostly unknown, he went down in the history books as the Bestower of Appellations of one of the most iconic pork product in the world. (HormelFoods)
First introduced on July 5, 1937, SPAM is made with Pork with Ham, Salt, Water, Potato Starch, Sugar and Sodium Nitrite. First, the pork and ham are pre-ground.
Then, salt, sugar and the rest of the ingredients are added and mixed, to reach the desired temperature. From there, the mixture is moved over to the canning line, where it’s filled into the familiar metal cans, 12 ounces at a time.
Once filled, cans are conveyed to a closing machine where lids are applied through vacuum-sealing. Next, the cans are cooked and cooled for about three hours. At this point they’re ready for labels and then they are off to be cased, where they await distribution. (SPAM)
With the passage of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 (this was a pre-US entry into WWII act that set up a system that allowed the US to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed ‘vital to the defense of the United States’) the US gave needed supplies to Great Britain, while remaining ‘officially’ neutral. (HormelFoods & National Archives)
Because of its shelf-stable status (and the fact that it wasn’t rationed like beef), Hormel Foods began shipping the stuff abroad during World War II.
By 1941, Minnesota-based Hormel Foods sent more than 100 million pounds of SPAM to allied troops; by 1944, more than 90% of the canned foods were shipped for government use. (HormelFoods)
The easy-to-pack product became a staple food for GI’s during the war. SPAM sales skyrocketed; by 1959 Hormel had produced their one-billionth can of SPAM. (TasteOfHome)
If you live in a part of the world where US troops were stationed during WWII, you’re probably pretty familiar with SPAM. The product is most popular in these areas, with the most extreme example being Hawai‘i.
Folks in the Islands completely adopted the ham-in-a-can product and consume nearly 7-million cans of SPAM products each year. You’ll find fried eggs and rice with spam for breakfast, SPAM fried wontons as a snack, and sushi-inspired SPAM musubi rolls at nearly every home and restaurant. You’ll even see SPAM on McDonald’s breakfast menu! (HormelFoods)
The product has sold more than nine billion tins since it was introduced on July 5, 1937. More SPAM is consumed per person in Hawai‘i than in any other state in the United States – almost seven million cans of SPAM are eaten every year in Hawai‘i.
SPAM is also a popular ingredient in various Asian cuisines, particularly Korean. South Koreans consume more SPAM than the residents of any other country besides the United States.
Despite having only a sixth of the population of the US, South Koreans consume half as much SPAM each year. The popular Korean dish ‘budae jjigae’ — which translates to ‘Army stew’ or ‘Army base stew’ — developed after the Korean War, when an economic downturn meant that meat was scarce and expensive.
A US Army base in the South Korean city of Uijeongbu had a surplus of various processed food, including SPAM — which ‘was totally new to Koreans’.
As of 2023, SPAM is available in 11 varieties: SPAM Classic, SPAM Lite, SPAM 25% Less Sodium, SPAM Maple Flavored, SPAM with Real HORMEL Bacon, SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey, SPAM Hickory Smoke Flavored, SPAM Hot and Spicy, SPAM Jalapeño, SPAM Teriyaki and SPAM with Tocino Flavoring. (Rousselle)
Another preparation is SPAM Musubi. We can thank Barbara Funamura (from Kauai) for that. Barbara graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in food sciences and nutrition and went on to Ames, Iowa for post-graduate study in institutional management.
“Her first job was as an extension agent at the University of Hawaii. She traveled all over, and when she came home, she was an extension agent until the kids came.”
When she started working after raising the kids, she became the first food supervisor for the Meals on Wheels program before joining Big Save as a supervisor for the Kauai Kitchens.
Barbara Funamura was the originator of the SPAM musubi – SPAM and rice are combined in a musubi (rice ball) wrapped in nori (sheets of dried seaweed.)
“The first one was triangular” her husband said – to differentiate it from the musuburrito, a similar rice-and-chorizo musubi.
Eventually the SPAM musubi was made using a box, morphing it into its now familiar shape. “Barbara saw it and recognized that it was the way to go,” her husband said.
“The sushi would come out all uniform, and it just happens that it fits two slices of SPAM side by side.” (The Garden Island and Kauai Hongwanji.
