Campbell drops “soup” from company name to better reflect growing product line

11 Sep 2024 --- Campbell Soup Company plans to rename itself The Campbell’s Company to align with its “evolution and transformed portfolio,” which includes sauces, snacks and beverages in addition to soup.

This comes months after the New Jersey, US-based firm shuttered its organic soup, broth and plant-based beverage facility in Oregon and acquired Sovos Brands in a US$2.7 billion deal to diversify its Meals & Beverages portfolio.

“This subtle yet important change retains the company’s iconic name recognition, reputation and equity built over 155 years while better reflecting the full breadth of the company’s portfolio,” says Mark Clouse, Campbell’s president and CEO.

According to Clouse, while soup continues to be a critical business for the company, its transformed portfolio has expanded beyond the product. This includes Goldfish crackers, Cape Cod crisps, V8 beverages, Prego sauces and Michael Angelo’s ready-to-cook meals.

Clouse adds that Campbell will only need its soup sales to remain stable to meet its financial targets. Meanwhile, other executives believe its soup sales can benefit from the older demographic in the US, which prefers to eat soup more than the younger generation.

The renaming is subject to shareholder votes, which will be held at the company’s annual meeting in November.

Snack and meal focus

At the recent Fiscal 2025 Investor Day, the company revealed plans to drive growth in its product portfolio through 16 leadership brands, which span across both Snacks and Meals & Beverages categories and represent 84% of enterprise sales and approximately 95% of the company’s segment operating earnings in fiscal 2024.

Chris Foley, president of Snacks, outlined the potential for continued long-term growth and margin expansion in the division, supported by its elevated portfolio of leadership brands, a strong innovation pipeline and an advantaged “direct store delivery model” that offers further scale opportunities.

Campbell's snacks portfolio includes Goldfish crackers, Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels and Cape Cod potato chips among others.According to the company’s fourth quarter of the fiscal 2024 report, net sales increased by 28%, driven by the benefit of the Sovos Brands acquisition. Meanwhile, organic net sales jumped by 1%, owing to gains in US soup, foodservice and Prego pasta sauces, partially offset by declines in beverages.

Meanwhile, Mick Beekhuizen, president of Meals & Beverages, states that while soup remains an important part of the Meals & Beverages division, it is now a smaller portion of the transformed portfolio.

“We intend to set the standard for performance in the center store through our compelling consumer engagement and exciting flavor-forward innovation, with Rao’s strengthening and solidifying our potential and elevating our overall portfolio.”

Eyeing future growth

Campbell also revealed plans to leverage a long-term algorithm to deliver highly predictable and sustainable top-tier results, including growing organic net sales at approximately 2% to 3%. This target reflects an expectation of 3-4% on its Snacks business and a 1-2% rise for the Meals & Beverages business, supported by the Sovos Brands acquisition.

Additionally, it predicts a long-term adjusted EBIT growth of approximately 4% to 6%, fueled by sustainable growth on the topline and a new US$250 million enterprise cost savings program through fiscal 2028.

The company is also targeting adjusted EPS growth of approximately 7% to 9% through fiscal 2027 and predicts its net sales to rise between 9% and 11% in its 2025 fiscal year. This is driven by a contribution from Sovos Brands and the loss of 11 months of net sales due to the sale of its popcorn business, Pop Secret to Our Home last month.

By Insha Naureen