Heat-n-eat soups win with convenience - Grocery - Ready-to-eat canned soup industry; analysis - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, May 6, 2002

Traditional condensed soup, the kind that requires additional water, may eventually fade into memory as convenience products take center stage.

Ready-to-eat canned soup already has surpassed condensed soup in dollar sales and is quickly rising to the same volume level. More than one billion cans were sold during a recent 52-week period versus 1.4 billion cans of condensed. This data from Information Resources Inc., excluding Wal-Mart, showed unit sales of ready-to-serve soup up 3.4%, while sales of condensed soup dropped 5.4%.

"There's a lot of debate around the future of condensed soup, but it's still a huge behavior and business," said John Faulkner, director of brand communications for Campbell's.

One-third of Campbell's soup sales are in ready-to-serve, a category Faulkner said continues to grow as condensed declines. The drive for convenience also has prompted Campbell's to put easy-open, ring-top lids on all of its ready soups, with plans to add the feature to its condensed lineup. Now the latest development is the ultimate convenience item, Soup at Hand, a soup consumers can sip that fits in vehicle cup holders. The product will be available this fall.

Faulkner added that Campbell's Select and Chunky ready-soup lines have done particularly well, both growing double digits this past year. The addition of unique spices in the Select line and meatier, chunkier soup are key selling points.

Even with the slowing growth of condensed soup, Faulkner said condensed chicken noodle, cream of mushroom and tomato remain Campbell's top sellers. While consumers gravitate toward readymade soups for quick meals, many still buy condensed varieties for recipes.