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Campbell Soup, the maker of chips, sauces, cookies and beverages, plans to drop the word “soup” from its name as it looks to expand beyond its signature dishes.
At Campbell Soup's annual meeting in November, shareholders will vote on whether to change the company's name to Campbell Corporation.
Soups remain an essential part of the 155-year-old business, generating more than $1 billion in annual sales. But the acquisitions of snack maker Snyder's-Lance and Rao's sauce maker Sovos Brands, as well as the growth of Campbell's own products like Goldfish and Pepperidge Farm, have reduced the company's share of operations.
According to a research note from Erin Lash, director of consumer equity research at Morningstar, Campbell Soup’s core soup lineup now accounts for just 25% of total sales, down from more than 40% in fiscal 2017. At the same time, snacks account for about half, up from less than 30%.
“We will always love soup, and we will never take our eyes off this important business,” Campbell Soup CEO Mark Klaus told the audience at the company’s investor day in New York City. “But today, we are much more than soup.”
Klaus said soup sales must remain stable for the company to reach its financial goals, but as the U.S. population ages, soup sales will increase because the food is more popular with older consumers.
He added that Campbell Soup is prioritizing 16 so-called “leadership brands” across two categories: food and beverage and snacks. The New Jersey company, which has nearly $10 billion in annual net sales, also owns Late July, Pacific, Prego, Swanson and V8. Executives predict that Goldfish alone will be the largest brand, with $1.3 billion in sales by fiscal 2027.
Although it's rare for food and beverage names to change, sometimes they do so when a company expands beyond its known category or brand.
In 2019, Molson Coors Brewing announced that it was changing its name to Molson Coors Beverage Company “to better reflect our strategic intent to expand beyond beer into other growth areas.” Along with its namesake beer, Molson Coors now has a presence in spirits, healthy energy drinks, spiked lemonades and hard seltzers, all through its Coca-Cola partnership.
