Stop the Soup

Prepared Foods, Oct, 2001 by Lynn Dornblaser

Campbell Soup's, Camden, N.J., has moved beyond the soup aisle with a new line of meal kits called Supper Bakes. The kits include everything necessary for a casserole-type meal, except the meat. A seasoning flavor packet, can of soup and pouch of pasta/rice/stuffing is packed in a 19.8-oz. box. Chicken with Rice, Lemon Chicken with Herb Rice, Savory Pork Chops with Herb Stuffing, and Garlic Chicken with Pasta take only five minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to bake, according to the company.

They sound like translations of the tried-and-true recipes that have appeared on the boxes of Minute Rice and Stove Top for years. It's a clever move by the company, which has seen soup sales falling steadily over the last year or so. One reason soup may NOT be such good food these days is due to the impact of easy-to-prepare meal kits that could be taking the place of soup as a meal. This product keeps Campbell's on the dinner table.