The move by Heinz last September to overhaul its range of ambient soups says more about the state of play in the soups sector than any expert is likely to. Hoping to reverse the decline in the market for ambient soups, which had fallen at the hands of its chilled rivals, the soup giant made swingeing cuts to its portfolio, revamped its classic soups and brought out a Special range of premium offerings. Heinz's view was simple: innovate or pay the price.
First indications are that Heinz's actions have done the trick. According to market analyst TNS Superpanel, the market for wet ambient soup was up 4% on last year, valued at around £240m. With a 27% reduction in instant soup and a 2% reduction in packet soup over the same period, and with chilled soup growing 11% in value on last year, it seems that consumers are trading up to better quality varieties, whether chilled or ambient.
The next challenge for manufacturers is how to continue this growth. Mike Faers, innovations and development director at New Covent Garden Food (NCGF), part of the Daniels Chilled Foods group, says that to retain momentum companies need a genuinely innovative approach to new product development (NPD).
One thing companies will have to do, says Faers, is be more specific when considering upcoming trends. "I'm a little bit bored with taste, health and convenience being the trends you always hear about -- you need to be a bit more specific. If it isn't convenient forget it. And taste is not negotiable."
Health is of more interest to Faers, however, and NCGF will be focusing on the health profile of its soups over the coming year. But rather than developing products with added healthy ingredients, the company will rather highlight the inherently healthy nature of soup.
"Soup is naturally healthy, but we want to add to that offer," he says. "We want functionality without ramming it down consumers' throats. We are looking to develop more functional products, but in a 'by the way this is healthy' kind of way. After all, they are not walking into a chemist but a supermarket."
Ingredients the company considers fulfil this remit include ginger and spinach. At the same time, it is steering clear of some of the stranger 'functional' ingredients cropping up more frequently in products. "We are not looking for a guarana. We are not using an ingredient for the sake of it," says Faers.
One way NCGF hopes to introduce new ingredients is through its soup of the month, which enables it to launch 12 new products alongside its core portfolio each year.
According to Faers, soups of the month planned for this year include Lentil Bacon & Oak Smoked Ham; Tomato, Chorizo and Chickpea; Spinach, Pea & Mint; Pea and Lettuce, and a Vintage Cheddar and King Edward Potato soup linked to the growing popularity of farmers' markets. The company even plans to run a student competition later in the year to develop a soup. The winner will go to the company's headquarters in Peterborough and develop a final recipe for sale.
Such monthly offerings also allow the company to coincide its launches with different events. For example, this month it is launching its Squished Tomato variety, to coincide with Comic Relief and it will do the same with its Pumpkin and Sweet Potato soup which will be launched in time for Halloween.
Yet while these soups boost NCGF's brand presence, they also serve as a useful test market for new ingredients and blends. For example, Faers admits that its upcoming Pea and Lettuce soup may be a gamble, as many people would not associate lettuce with a hot dish. But as the soup is just a one-month offering, the risks are small and the learning curve sharp. Its Mexican soup with Tequila is just one past example where the company tried to be inventive, but says the result wasn't quite as it had hoped.
"I don't mind if products don't always work," he says. "We sometimes choose to launch something quirky and aim to not sell a lot. We have done it in the knowledge that it is not likely to work. But until you try it you don't know."
Monthly soups also allow companies to create more seasonal products and place greater emphasis on the provenance of ingredients. Something which the Yorkshire Soup Company is doing with its soups.
Yorkshire, which late last year launched a seven-strong soup range of premium soups is attempting to bring the consumer closer to the product by sourcing as many local ingredients as possible and placing pictures and information of key suppliers on the packaging.
The company sources the beetroot for its Beetroot, Parsnip, Horseradish, Ginger & Crème Fraiche soup, from Doncaster, which it says is one of the best areas for growing the red vegetable in the UK.
"We want to be seasonal," says one of the company's partners Terry Williams. "There was a time when people looked forward to buying seasonal products and the seasonal aspects of those foods and people are starting to want seasonality again."
With this in mind, this year the company is developing three new variants under a new spring range and dropping two of its winter varieties. The new soups, which are still in the final stages of development, will play heavily on green spring and summer time herbs and vegetables such as peas, lettuce, mint and asparagus, says Williams. A sweet potato variant is also in the offing.
It is not only new flavours that will ensure continued growth of the soups market. In September NCGF will launch an offensive on males aged 25-35, for whom, it believes, soup tends to be an insubstantial offering. While it won't reveal the exact nature of the product, Faers says it will cross the boundaries between soups and casseroles, possibly containing pulses, beans or large chunks of meat. "We are moving soups towards ready meals," he says. "For the consumer who prefers soup to be a bit more robust and substantial."
It is not alone in this thinking. In the ambient market Baxters is pinning its hopes on its new Healthy Helpings range of soups -- a four-strong range of Chunky Country Vegetable; Italian Broth with Smoked Bacon; Smoked Bacon & Three Bean; and Spicy Lentil & Vegetable.
The range has been designed to be substantial enough to be served as a main meal to also bridge the gap between soups and ready meals. "These soups are so filling, you won't need to reach for the bread," it says.
Yorkshire is also exploring the possibility of chunkier soups, to cater for heartier appetites. It aims to develop a number of meat soups using local meat. "There are very few, if any, real meat soups, and this is something we want to explore," says Williams.
The market will have to wait until September to discover NCGF's exact movements, but Faers says that in order to stay competitive the company will continue to come up with fresh ideas for its fresh soup.
"I have plans for the soups category for the next five years," he says. "There is a huge amount more we will be doing." It's really a case of watch this space.FM
Twists on classics work for sauces
Don't expect to see a wide variety of different flavours flooding the sauces market, but rather a return to more simpler flavours better executed, says New Covent Garden Food's innovations and development director Mike Faers.
Faers says the sauces market mirrors that of fresh soups, and that a return to classic sauces is high on the developers' lists.
"There is a general liking for simple but tasty pasta sauces," says Faers. "Simple, well-known combinations is where development will head, with the reduction of fancier, esoteric stuff."
Voyager Foods certainly believes this to be so, and says that demand is now rising for better quality traditional flavours. "We are seeing a rise in what we call 'classic sauces with a twist'." Says Mick O'Kane, development chef at Voyager. "We're helping to give traditional British dishes a more contemporary flavour by creating, say, a port wine-enriched jus for braised beef, a fresh rosemary, caper and anchovy sauce for lamb shanks, or a spiced honey and balsamic glaze for duck."
The Grocery Company's Nando's brand is also going back to basics with its new range of three pasta sauces which contain its Peri-Peri chilli sauce.
Its new Roasted Reds; Spicy Tomato; and Spicy Tomato and Olive sauces each have a fiery kick, which the company says caters for a growing demand in hot versions of classic sauces.
The Grocery Company has also this month launched three new cooking sauces, Spicy Tagine; Lemon & Herb; and Sweet Chilli Satay.