The Food That Built America

Two heavy hitting cereal rivals duke it out for breakfast dominance. Competition heats up when an idea is stolen, beaten to the market, and is a runaway success.

The top selling candy days of the year revolve around Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween. And it all started with a few bold pioneers.

Before chicken wings were America's favorite Sunday football snack, they were considered an undesirable cut of meat. Until two restaurateurs in Buffalo, New York, reinvent the way wings are cooked.

A cereal executive's bold idea to finance the "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" movie will kick-off a candy revolution that produces some of the most iconic, imaginative confections in history.

Coffee's quality and popularity wane by the 1960s, until a handful of visionaries turn the industry on its head. Three college friends create an iconic brand of revolutionary gourmet coffee.

A devout Georgia diner owner stumbles into the chicken game when he develops a unique fried chicken sandwich with a batch of cast-off filets.

Four intrepid food entrepreneurs race to harness emerging technologies like the home freezer and microwave, to bring revolutionary frozen snack icons to a waiting world, and forever change what we eat, when we eat, and how we eat.

Thanksgiving is the one night a year Americans celebrate by eating the same meal across the country. But 100 years ago, the spread varied from region to region, and some of the biggest staples of Thanksgiving Dinner weren't around.

When an entrepreneur creates the first of its kind shelf-stable peanut butter out of his garage, it leads to the birth of an iconic sandwich known worldwide.

Two entrepreneurs rise from the ashes of Prohibition by staking everything on two liquors--a bitter, bottom-shelf whisky, and a flavorless foreign moonshine.

Lighting up the backyard grill is an American summer tradition like no other. But 100 years ago, cooking outside was not nearly as popular or accessible. Most backyard grilling essentials hadn't been invented yet.

Before juice was everywhere, these innovators used brilliant ingenuity to create the most nostalgic drink products and thirst quenchers of the last century, leading the charge on a new billion dollar beverage industry.

At the turn of the 20th century, Bernard Kroger and another upstart grocer come up with genius innovations that help invent the modern supermarket.

A young upstart named Oscar Mayer creates one of the most iconic meat brands on the planet. While pioneer Jay Hormel invents a meat product sold the world over, which becomes part of a 20-billion-dollar food empire.

Visionary innovators invent the first dog treat, the first dry dog food, the first cat food, and many more innovations that will carve out the billion-dollar pet food industry.

At a time when U.S. beer is dominated by the same lager style, one Milwaukee company experiments with something new. What starts as an unappealing low-calorie beer will become the number one beer in America.