The Food That Built America
The fascinating stories of the families behind the food that built America, those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America's heart through its stomach, those who invented new technologies and helped win wars.
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Episodes
1. Pizza Power Play
Two pizza juggernauts expand their empires as a hungry new contender turns the fight into a three-way race to become America’s biggest pizza chain.
2. Cereal Killers
Rival cereal giants race to invent the next must-have bowl, sparking a sugary arms race of mascots, crunch, candy, and the first ever chocolate cereal.
3. The Birth of Bubblegum
A struggling candy maker’s botched experiment leads to the world’s first bubble gum, its distinctive color, and a decades-long bubble gum war fueled by colorful mascots, comic strips, baseball cards, and novelty flavors — transforming gum into a pop culture.
4. Drive-Thru Burger Revolution
Three burger operators race to serve a new generation on wheels, and a primitive intercom and sliding window evolve into the drive-thru — revolutionizing fast food and kicking off an industry arms race.
5. Chocolate in a Glass
A chemist unlocks a chocolate syrup that transforms milk into a magic sensation, a scrappy soda shop owner cracks the code to bottling liquid chocolate for the masses, and a dairy innovator turns wartime surplus into instant cocoa gold.
6. Clash of the Cookie Giants
A century ago, the cookie industry didn't exist, until a wave of innovators turn it into a $15 billion powerhouse.
7. Cheesecake Chronicles
A struggling cheesemaker, a New York restauranteur, a small-time baker, and a determined mother-son duo transform a humble cheese pie into a decadent American dessert--turning cheesecake into a grocery staple and the star of a restaurant empire.
8. Rice to Riches
A keen-eyed immigrant, a candy mogul, and two pasta-making brothers reinvent rice for America’s kitchens by making it faster, easier, and impossible to resist.
9. Burgers, Burritos, & the Battle for Fast Food
An upstart chain innovates iconic menu items and fast food staples including a value menu and free refills, while fending off a new competitor to bring Mexican inspired fast food to the masses.
10. Icons of Ice Cream
From the first ice cream bar in history, to the invention of classic flavors, a century of bold innovators transforms ice cream from a rare indulgence into a $100 billion American powerhouse.
11. Spilling the Tea
A beverage giant is challenged for dominance by two upstart companies from Brooklyn to revolutionize the beverage market and transform iced tea from a regional drink to a multi-billion-dollar American staple.
12. Let's Get Crackering
As two baking powerhouses collide, scrappy upstarts and mom-and-pop players help turn crackers into a snack aisle staple.
13. Cereal Sensations
Cereal pioneers battle for control of America's breakfast table.
14. Say Yes to the Dressing
Richard Hellmann deli's mayonnaise launches America's condiment revolution.
Episodes
