Business

The end of soup?

The end of soup?

Ken James/Bloomberg/GETTY IMAGES

Canned soup, it seems, is suddenly passé. According to a recent report by Morgan Stanley, soup enthusiasts are a shrinking demographic in the U.S. Consumption is down among those under the age of 45, and soup isn’t cutting it among the booming Hispanic population in the U.S. Only 47 per cent of Hispanic households bought soup in the last six months, compared to 64 per cent of all U.S. households. “This trend is particularly worrisome,” Morgan Stanley wrote. Soup makers like Campbell Soup Co. are already feeling the effects of changing tastes. It reported lower quarterly earnings in February, and sales of its products have been declining for eight of the past 10 quarters, despite vigorous discounting. But Campbell Soup seems to think it can still get Asia to warm up to its liquid dinners. In January, it announced a joint venture with Chinese conglomerate Swire Pacific to pitch soup and broths in China.

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