Turn Up The Heat
Retailers could take sales of store brand soup to new levels by focusing on trends toward convenience, heartiness and more.
When it comes to comfort foods, soup continues to be a consumer favorite — and one that generally has a health halo. But store brand soups face stiff competition, from not only the national brands, but also fast-casual restaurants and even fast-food joints. Still, retailers that home in on current and emerging trends will be able to grow store brands within the category.
Trends with traction
Right now, two of the biggest trends within the soup category are convenience — meaning ready-to-serve soup varieties instead of condensed renditions — and "more meal-like" products, says Kim Hannaford, director of marketing for Austin, Ind.-based Morgan Foods. And consumers also are showing interest in more specialty-type soups such as those the Campbell Soup Co. introduced under the Campbell's Slow Kettle brand.
Differentiation through customization and regional flavors is of growing interest, too, on the store brand side of the business, Hannaford adds. But suppliers will need to figure out how to fill such lower-volume orders while maintaining manufacturing efficiencies. On the packaging side, Hannaford points to aseptic formats as a trend gaining steam in soups, as well as stocks and broths.
"We're starting to get away from the old tin can," he says.
Trends on the horizon
A number of soup trends currently playing out within the restaurant arena have the potential to become a hit at retail in the near future. Overall, those trends are "healthier, heartier and seasonal" soup selections, says Laura McGuire, editorial manager for Chicago-based Technomic Inc.
"Some recent menu additions are Specialty Café & Bakery's Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Mellow Mushroom's Magic Mushroom Soup garnished with grilled shitake, button and Portobello mushrooms," she says, adding that organic soups also are growing in popularity on the restaurant side.
In general, retailers should look to the fast-casual chains to find food concepts that have gone mainstream enough to warrant development on the retail side, says Kara Nielsen, trendologist with the Center for Culinary Development, San Francisco. Based on trends there, she believes Thai soups — soups based on hot and sour, coconut milk and lemongrass bases — will be the next big thing to hit retail. She also sees opportunity in Vietnamese Pho.
"One company is already selling it in one of those Tetra Pak bricks, and they're selling basically the broth," Nielsen notes. "The thing about pho is it's really all about the broth — normally it's a beef broth that's very slowly simmered with spices like star anise and other things. And then you put in rice noodles and different kinds of meat or chicken."
In restaurants, diners are able to customize their pho with fresh herbs such as Thai basil and cilantro, bean sprouts, fresh lime or lemon, and chili sauce, she says.
"I think pho has appeal to all kinds of consumers," she says, "and I think supermarkets are in a perfect position to offer it."
They could do so by adding the option to a soup bar with the fresh toppings available on the side or by offering, for example, a quart-sized pre-packed pho with the noodles and a separate packet that included the fresh herbs and other add-ins — much like a salad kit, Nielsen notes.
"It's a little tricky, but it certainly would be a standout product," she says.