Does Philadelphia Cream Cheese Come From Philadelphia?

No. Philadelphia Cream Cheese does not come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and it never did come from there. As the matter of fact, it was actually invented in Chester, New York, in the year 1872. It was given the name of "Philadelphia" because in those days the city of brotherly love had a classy reputation as a place where everything was a higher quality, especially food. Anything named "Philadelphia" was considered to be a very superior product. In some countries in Latin America, such as Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, and Colombia, the creamy cheese is known simply as "Philadelphia" or sometimes as Philadelphia Cheese (Queso Philadelphia in Spanish).

In conclusion, Philadelphia Cream Cheese does not really come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It started in New York and grew globally. It simply has the name Philadelphia Cream Cheese because in the 1800, Philadelphia meant that the produce was a high quality, classy product.