Not unexpected, but until now not solidly confirmed, either, Campbell’s are reporting a new high in home meal prep. The prepared soup people have just released an analysis based on their latest product sales figures…
Enhanced convenience (tab-top cans), healthier ingredients and
reduced sugar, salt and fat help updated canned pro-
ducts appeal to Boomers, Gen Zers alike…
It’s an intriguing look at the broader food prep picture… One that makes a person think about where ‘home cooking’ is headed as we plunge on into the second half of the 2020s…
Broader implications…
Campbell’s has always had faith in the future of it’s ready-eat and condensed canned suos and stews. So much so that earlier this year it renamed itself simply ‘Cambell’s’ (dropping ‘Soups’) Industry ob-servers say it’s ‘paving the way’ for an expansion of its product lines, perhaps into adjacent market segments.
But the company’s latest examination of it’s sales figures has uncovered a pattern of consumer be-haviour shifts that bode well for the soup maker. Though maybe not so well for makers of other food products.
Survey says…
Key findings of the Campbell’s sales analysis include:
- The Campbell’s says consumers are preparing meals at home at the highest level since early 2020 when COVID-19 forced many folks to forgo visiting restaurants and other prepared food es-tablishments.
- The food manufacturer said consumers are favoring ingredients that stretch their tightening food budgets. This is providing ‘a tailwind’ for Campbell’s condensed cooking soups, broths and Italian sauces.
- While its meals and beverages operations remain strong, Campbell’s continues to face pressure in snacks, most notably chips and crackers. The same inflationary pressures that have pushed con-sumers to cook more have also led to a decline in snacking, according to the Goldfish maker.
Home cooking implications?
Not as such. But Campbell’s figures do confirm, massively, a segue to home prep and consumption of classic foods that until recently had fallen out of favour, or at least plateaued in popularity.
Notable among these are the signature canned soups upon which Campbell’s built its empire. Both ready-to-heat-and-eat and condensed soups have enjoyed a resurgence over the past year or so. Campbell’s notes, the younger Gens who prioritise convenience, ease of prep and speed of prep are using more canned soups as cooking bases, as well as bases for casseroles and other such dishes as they stay home. They, apparently are looking for both savings and greater control over what goes into their bodies.
Boomers ‘upgrading’ retro habits
Boomers, too, are staying home, trying to make fixed incomes go further by reviving old habits – such as heating up a can of soup for lunch. They’re also taking their parents’ recipes out the dusty cup-boards where they have lounged, neglected, since the now-Boomers left their childhood homes and went out on their own in the 1970s and 80s.
Notably, the Boomers and some Millennials-through-Gen-Zers have noted commitments by tradi-tional makers of packaged foods to update their products with healthier ingredients. And though prices of canned, externally-prepped foods have increased in price in concert with other popular ‘UPF’ foods, many have managed to remain cheaper while ‘newstalgizing’ themselves.
Snacking sector getting hammered
As we’ve mentioned earlier this year, snack makers, notably PepsiCo and their ilk, have been getting hammered on sales over the past several fiscal quarters. Folks are loving massively away fro sugar-sweetened, fizzy drinks towards healthier canned and bottled bevs, with an emphasis on nutrition-fortified ‘supplemental’ drinks and non-caffeinated hydration quaffs.
Salty, fatty, sugary snacks are also falling out of style in favour of healthier alternatives. The message is also, apparently, starting to get through about how fundamentally unhealthy many so-called breakfast, sports and health bars, and related foods such as granola products, often turn out to be.
My take
As much as the news surprised me when I first read it, I can now see why recent shifts and segues in consumer dining and snacking habits have favoured older, legacy companies like Campbell’s.
It will be both fun and instructive to see where the resurgence in retro-style products such canned soups takes us all over the coming months and years!
~ Maggie J.