Sauces for courses

The arrival of a certain celebrity bandana-wearing chef on to our TV screens has seen TSC Foods rubbing its hands with glee. Why? The manufacturer became the exclusive owner of the Marco Pierre White endorsed brand, Glorious! in February. The brand includes seven soups and three sauces.

For a fortnight in April the celebrity chef appeared as head chef on ITV's Hell's Kitchen, proceeded by ITV2's American reality show The Chopping Block. Since this double helping of Pierre White, sales of the Glorious! brand have shot up, according to TSC. It is the kind of exposure that most manufacturers would jump at, says a spokeswoman.

Glorious! was originally developed in collaboration with Conival, which ran into difficulties after a major creditor called in debts and it ceased trading in February. This is when TSC Foods stepped in and took ownership of the brand. "Glorious! is a major investment in the future of TSC Foods," says commercial director, Mandy Taylor. "We are working with one of the greatest chefs in the world ... It is proving to be a great success with consumers and select major retailers. We aim to make this available on every high street."

The product was designed to give the look and feel of homemade soup using fresh 'chunky' ingredients supplied from local sources. The range includes: vine-ripened tomato and balsamic; wild mushroom and cream; spring onion and Wiltshire bacon; Mexican black eye and butter bean - and sells for around £1.99 for a 600g carton in Morrisons. "We have carefully developed our soups to bring something new to the chilled soup category," adds Taylor. "We think that we offer a unique selling point by delivering innovative, chunky products and great new flavour profiles that we hope will encourage more customers to buy chilled soup. Our products are already starting to have a noticeable impact - 69% of purchasers are new users of chilled soup [according to data from TNS Worldpanel]."

Trends in the soup category​

The increased popularity of chilled soup is down to consumers trading up to higher-quality, fresh, healthier products, says market researcher Mintel.

In 2007 Heinz made a move into the chilled soup sector with the Farmers' Market range, "which brought a more natural and wholesome positioning to the Heinz portfolio with emphasis on provenance and healthy eating", says Mintel. But at the end of 2008/early 2009, Heinz dropped its chilled Farmers' Market range, claiming that the chilled market was in decline.

Recent data, however, shows that for the 12 weeks ending March 22 2009, the sales of chilled soup were up 12.1% compared to the same period last year, according to market researcher TNS.

On entering the chilled sector, Heinz found itself "competing head-on" with chilled own-label offerings from retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, as well as the market leader New Covent Garden, which was seeing growth in the region of 15% in 2007, taking the brand to a value of £55M. Throughout 2008 New Covent Garden also stepped up its marketing budget, allocating £2.5M to advertising the soups, reasserting its position as number one in the category.

"It succeeded in extending its lead of the chilled soup market through a strong commitment to new product development (NPD), media support and attractive promotional offers such as two for £3, which encourage higher volumes of purchase and more frequent consumption," says Mintel.

The research company believes that these reasons contributed to Heinz exiting the chilled soups market. Despite this, Heinz still dominates the soups category, says Mintel. It is particularly strong in the ambient sector with ranges including Heinz Classics, Big Soup, Farmers' Market, Soups of the World, Taste of Home and Weight Watchers.

Wet ambient growth​

Overall, sales of wet ambient soup are showing signs of strong growth. For the 12 weeks ending March 22, 2009 sales of ambient soup (in cans, pouches and pots/tubs) were up 13.3%, compared with the same period last year, according to data from TNS.

Dried soup, on the other hand, has been seeing a long-term decline. Unilever's Knorr brand of packet soup, for example, saw sales decline by around 1.6% in 2007 to stand at just under £6M, says Mintel. "Dried soup has a less healthy and appealing image than either ambient or fresh soup," it adds. "A focus on healthy eating and heartier meal soups has continued to push value forward."

Chilled and ambient soups and sauces are emerging as winners in the recession. Premium cooking sauces in particular are benefiting from fewer people eating out and more people eating in.

"The toughening economic climate is pushing some consumers to switch spend from eating out to cooking at home using restaurant-quality sauces," Mintel adds. "Cooking sauces have benefited from a revival in home cooking with consumers using sauces as time-saving shortcuts. New products often feature positions related to health and provenance. Natural sourcing is particularly popular, with fewer launches made with additives, while others are promoted as part of the recommended five a day."

It estimates the cooking sauce market reached over £758M in 2008, with annual growth of around 6% since 2005. A survey commissioned by Premier Foods' Loyd Grossman Sauces found that nearly half of the people that it surveyed (45%) said they were eating out less than this time last year. But, despite the desire to entertain friends, one in four Brits (25%) said that they lacked confidence in the kitchen, which is encouraging the growth of the sector, according to the company.

As well as eating out less, consumers are buying fewer takeaways, adds AB World Foods. Its Patak's Meena sauce brand was launched last year and was timed to coincide with the UK recession, as consumers looked to reduce money on takeaways in favour of home-cooking. It is positioned as a super-premium cooking sauce, aimed at providing a means of easy to cook, authentic food at home.

Patak's brand represented 3% of the cooking sauces in the year ending December 2008 and advertising campaigns have helped increase sales by over 25% since 2006, according to Nielsen Media Research.

New TV adverts were developed using 'The East made easy' strapline and brand advertising exceeded £2M in 2008, as new adverts were aired from May. The brand produces six varieties of canned sauces, as well as nine sauces in glass jars and 15 pastes.

Italian stallion​

However, despite the growing interest in Indian, Thai and Chinese foods, of all cooking sauces on the market it's the Italian ones that still dominate the wet ambient sector and account for more than half of total sales.

Mars's Dolmio brand accounts for almost a fifth of the total market and continues to grow with it, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Mars, more recently, has honed in on the trend for convenience by launching a range of microwaveable sauces. The sauces come in single serving options to appeal to adults and single-person households. Mars also launched My Dolmio - a range designed for children, with three pour-over sauces, including meatball Bolognese.

Winning market share is even more important in a recession, says Vivien Wilton-Middlemass of consultancy McCallum Layton. Speaking at a Food and Drink Innovation Network conference on Better, quicker and cheaper NPD, she said: "From a food manufacturer's point of view, they are being squeezed by retailers wanting them to either offer products at discounted prices or offer more promotions - that is if they are not doing so already.

"Manufacturers must also make sure that their brands are at the forefront of consumers' minds. But unfortunately, budgets for product advertising are usually the first things to be cut. Brands must establish their presence in the market, focusing on a long-term strategy."