Fresh Marketing - the business behind protein-enriched breakfast brand Fuel - is hoping to create a stir in the ailing soup category with a new ambient brand.
The four-strong higher-protein I Am Souper range (rsp: £1.49/390g) this week launched in Asda on a £1 introductory offer, and is expected to roll into Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores from August.
Available in Peppered Beef & Superbeans, Chicken & Supergrains, Supergreens and Pulled Pork & Jalapeno, the soups are sold in Tetra Pak Recart packaging the company claimed was a first for ambient soups.
Containing beans, pulses and grains - and fortified with pea purée - the soups offered between 2.5g and 4.7g per 100g of protein per pack, which was twice that of rival brands, claimed Fresh Marketing, and would tap growing interest in protein-rich products and meet demand for “more filling options”.
The supplier added I Am Souper would bring new and lapsed consumers to the struggling soup category - down 7.9 % by value and 9% by volume [Nielsen 52 w/e 11 October 2014] - and appeal particularly to younger shoppers and active consumers who wanted to eat “the right stuff pre- or post-exercise” but struggled to make time to shop every day.
“In ambient soup there is an ageing consumer - with 70% of shoppers aged 45 years or older,” said product development head Jason Kerr, predicting the newcomer would add £4m to the total soup category in its first two years. “More than 24% of all consumers say they would eat more soup if they knew it would keep them fuller for longer,” he added.
Kerr said the brand was pioneering the new packaging format “because the tin can has had its day”. “A switch to better eco-alternatives in more modern packaging should be a requirement, not just a commercial move,” he added.
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