Hamburger Helper, kitchen mainstay since the ’70s, looks to stay relevant with help of innovation center

For the busy parent, the uninspired home cook or simply anyone looking to get dinner on the table, a trip through the packaged foods aisle at the grocery store is an easy solve.

Take Hamburger Helper, a store shelf mainstay since the ’70s that offers a one-pan solution to mealtime. For decades, the brand was a household name. In an effort to stay relevant with today’s consumer, Helper has reintroduced itself to the market with the help of its new parent company.

Eagle Foods is a Cleveland-based company nearly 10 years old with brands that have an “incredibly rich history rooted in American culture,” said Mala Wiedemann, executive vice president of marketing and research and development. The company acquired Helper and pasta salad starter kit Suddenly Salad from General Mills in 2022 via a cash sale valued at around $610 million, according to a General Mills news release. At the time, annual sales for both products were $235 million in fiscal year 2021, a marked decline from Helper’s heyday.

Now, Eagle Foods is looking to refresh the brands, opening a 15,000-square-foot innovation center in February in north suburban Buffalo Grove, Illinois, with about 25