It’s also bang on trend, claims Campbell Soup boss Denise Morrison, who apparently had a Eureka moment when hitting the brew button on a Keurig machine last year:
“Consumers are looking for snacks that serve as mini-meals to satisfy hunger, and there is an increasing need for ultra-convenient options.”
Enter Campbell Soup’s new ‘fresh-brewed’ soup, which hits shelves in 2014 and will come with a small packet of dried noodles and veg that go in your cup first. The K-Cup contains the powdered broth, which will be made by the Keurig machine and poured over the noodles and veg.
If the taste is superior to existing instant soup products, it could be a winner
So is this a hit in the making for the world's biggest soup company, which says more than 80% of Keurig owners eat Campbell’s soup?
It all depends on the experience and the price (still under discussion), according to marketing experts quizzed by FoodNavigator-USA.
In a nutshell, will ‘fresh brewed’ soup amount to the savory equivalent of a premium coffeehouse experience in the comfort of your own home or office, or is it an overpriced and clunky way of making instant soup without a kettle that creates two empty packets instead of one?
(And can you be bothered to flush out your Keurig machine after you use it to ensure your coffee doesn’t come with a hint of chicken noodle?)
Is this just an expensive version of instant soup?
Euromonitor International beverage analyst Jonas Feliciano reckons this probably isn’t going to set the world on fire, but could be a hit in the workplace, and more importantly for Campbell, could create incremental business in a mature category (soup) by creating new eating occasions.
“I think there is the possibility for Campbell’s to penetrate the institutional market, the workplace. I can imagine companies ordering these in bulk along with all the other K-Cup varieties.”
The broth should generate a pleasing aroma that should help sell the experience as being superior to an inexpensive instant soup in a packet
Datamonitor innovation insights director Tom Vierhile agrees: “The main reason that Campbell Soup is salivating over this opportunity is that they see the Keurig machine as the key to building soup consumption outside of traditional mealtimes.
“If the company can encourage people to snack on soup mid-morning, mid-afternoon or whenever, then this launch could be a game changer."
It also has the potential to give soup a higher profile in new channels, as Keurig machines are now popping up in thousands of workplaces, waiting rooms and offices, he points out.
"This could generate significant incremental sales for Campbell Soup. At a minimum, it gets consumers thinking about soup on a more regular basis."
This could generate significant incremental sales for Campbell Soup
As for the concept itself, he says: “It has the potential to be a winning concept but a lot is going to depend upon how consumers perceive the product and the experience.”
He adds: “The ‘garnish’ is separate and certainly looks like traditional instant soup, so that has the potential to fix the perception that this is an expensive version of instant soup. But if the product taste is superior to existing instant soup products, it could be a winner.
“The key here is the ‘fresh brewed’ concept. The broth should generate a pleasing aroma that should help sell the experience as being superior to an inexpensive instant soup in a packet.”
The Keurig brand reflects a quality experience for a premium price. How will a powdered soup snack fulfill their brand promise?
Beverly Murray, founder of branding agency R+M, says the key will be managing consumer expectations. Is this a premium quality product for people looking for something better than canned soup, or a cheap, quick snack to grab instead of a chocolate bar if you need a pick-me-up without the extra calories?
“The Keurig brand reflects a quality experience for a premium price. How will a powdered soup snack fulfill their brand promise? Time will tell. And with a vibrant Keurig fan base and the Internet, time will tell quick.”
If it’s not a winner, Campbell Soup, not Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and the Keurig brand, will suffer, she predicts.
“Whereas I see this as a low-risk step for the Keurig brand, the pressure is on Campbell's to deliver on the taste and healthy equation. Is Campbell's attempting to lower our ‘healthy’ expectations by calling it a snack?
“At the same time their draft packaging states ‘fresh brewed soup’ and ‘soup mix’ not ‘soup mix snack’ or other. The key to success will be managing my expectation as a consumer."
'Soup as a snack? I am skeptical'
Lori Colman, co-CEO at branding and marketing agency CBD Marketing, notes that the office setting is "perfect for the Campbell’s product since soup is consumed more at lunch than other times of the day", while the fact that K-Cups are associated with quality means that "Campbell’s probably won’t need to fight that battle for trial at least".
However, there are caveats, she says.
First, "soup-as-a-snack? I am skeptical".
Second, in office settings, she notes, coffee pods are typically a free perk. "Will offices also spring for soup? If not, employees will have to bring their own soup pods which brings up the problem of inertia and the question of price."
Finally, she says, there's the "coffee/soup cross-pollination factor... Although they’ve tested for this in terms of taste, I suspect there will be perception issues to overcome."
There is just no way to get vegetables to reconstitute in a satisfying way when you simply pour hot water over them
Her colleague Jean Ban, head of PR, however, reckons that soup as a snack might be a winner: "This makes soup a snack, and if you can pour hot broth over something that will reconstitute quickly, you’ve also extended the perception of the Keurig Cup machine you have in your kitchen (or your office) as having a use beyond your morning cup of joe."
But head of research Gina Miller cautions: "In terms of customer experience, I think that expectations are low for this type of product. There is just no way to get vegetables to reconstitute in a satisfying way when you simply pour hot water over them. Campbell’s is probably betting that the ease and speed of preparation will trump taste."
Click here to read about the growth of the single serve market with key stats from Packaged Facts.