Baxters unveils ‘trendy’ varieties of soup to spice up youth appeal

Scottish food company Baxters is aiming to target younger customers with a new range of soups.

The nine canned soups go on sale at the end of August backed by a generic TV advertising campaign for Baxters foods, featuring some of the new varieties. The push is being devised by Glasgow agency Alliance The Bridge for national screening.

Baxters spent more than 2m on TV advertising (MAT, first quarter 1996), according to Register-MEAL.

Ruth Griffiths, product manager for soups and sauces, says: “The canned soup market has a 91 per cent penetration so we have to look at our consumer profile to capture a younger consumer, in the 20-to-30 age range. The canned soup we create is as good as chilled varieties.”

Baxters new soups are: spicy Thai chicken with lemongrass and creamed courgette with crème frache, in the “special occasion” range; Italian bean and pasta; spicy tomato with rice and sweetcorn; minestrone with wholemeal pasta, in the “healthy choice” range; and cream of chicken with tarragon in the “traditional” range.

There will also be three vegetarian varieties: broccoli with fromage frais, pumpkin, and spring vegetable fragranced with basil.