Soup and Side Dishes

摘要

This time last year showed good growth in many of the soup and side dish markets, as the recession was helping boost sales of categories that are seen as basic staples and everyday simple foods. But, the recession could only help these markets so far, and the combined impact of consumers' needs for frugality, self-inflicted market damage by soup manufacturers and creeping private label have dampened sales figures. The ready-to-serve (RTS) soup segment is still hurting from the advertising war between Campbell and General Mills. The ads, which called out suspect ingredients in each competitor's soups, appears to have succeeded mainly at reminding consumers, already wary of added sodium in processed foods, that the soup aisle should be approached with caution. There does appear to be a market for healthier soups—given that the Select Harvest launch was a success by itself. However, the rest of the RTS segment and the soup category, as a whole, suffered.