Soup in France

2021 DEVELOPMENTS

Soup continues to underperform as people prefer to make their own soup at home

Unlike most categories of cooking ingredients and meals, soup underperformed during 2020 as well as during 2021 as the category struggled to maintain consistent demand. One of the key factors underpinning the category’s recent poor performance is the warmer weather that has been experienced in France in recent years, especially in southern and central parts of the country.

Shift towards organic soup benefits smaller producers as major players play catchup

The interest of French consumers in organic food has risen dramatically in recent years and this applies as much to soup as any other category of packaged food. For this reason, brands that offer organic soup have been able to buck the negative sales trends that have been seen in the category in recent years to some extent, with significant growth seen in sales of organic soup since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, what has motivated many French consumers to pay more attention to the healthiness of their diets.

Dehydrated soup and instant soup continue to struggle due to their unhealthy image

Towards the end of the review period, dehydrated soup and instant soup were the worst performers of any categories of soup in France. The main reason for consumers shunning these products is that they are increasingly viewed as being unhealthy and this is based on perceptions that they are overly processed and lacking in nutritional content.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Innovation and better packaging set to spur growth in shelf stable soup

With demand for packaged soup generally under pressure, the leading players in shelf stable soup have taken the initiative in terms of revamping the image of the category to ensure that it continues to appeal to a new generation of consumers. Indeed, anyone paying attention to the French retail shelves where soup is displayed will have noticed that the liquid brick containers that replaced metal food cans some years ago have in turn been replaced by glass bottles and jars that are designed to lend these products a premium image and lend them the appearance of chilled soup.

Soup marketing to focus on sustainability, with reducing food waste a major target

The forecast period is expected to see sustainability become a major trend in the French packaged food industry and, within the soup context, this is likely to involve an expansion of the efforts already being undertaken by various smaller soup producers to embrace the concept of using “ugly” or leftover vegetables as core ingredients for their soups. There are already strict laws in place in France against food waste, with fines in place for wholesalers who waste food that is considered to be fit for human consumption.

Soup made in France from locally sourced ingredients set to perform very well

One of the major trends expected to influence sales of packaged food in France during the forecast period is the increasing interest that consumers have in locally manufactured products that have been made using domestic ingredients. This is expected to become a major influence on sales of soup during the forecast period, with the use of local fresh produce having already become essential for many soup players as consumers have become increasingly keen to embrace the buy local and buy French trends.