Soup Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Soup Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

aThe global soup market is estimated to register a CAGR of 2.9% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026).

Due to stringent lockdowns and social distancing, sales of ready-to-eat soups experienced a significant decline in the first quarter of 2020. However, sales increased in the second half of 2020, with consumers panic buying and hoarding several food products irrespective of the brand.

Over the medium term, increasing product varieties, consumption of health and wellness products, and active promotions by market players are expected to contribute to the growth of the soup market. Moreover, the growing demand for healthier food products is expected to boost the demand for soups in North America, which accounts for a significant share in the global market.

Instant, dehydrated, and UHT soups are expected to dominate the soup market in the forecast period due to their ease of preparation and the increasing consumer demand for such products, driven by busier lifestyles.

The high market dominance of the key players is due to their high expenditure on promotional and other marketing activities. In addition, companies also gain a competitive advantage by increasing their focus on brand recognition strategies and improving product taste and quality.

Key Market TrendsVegetarian and Instant Soup Dominate the Soup Market

The market for instant and vegetarian soup has excellent potential to grow because of an increase in convenient product offerings such as packaged soup, ready-to-eat soup, natural soup, quick soup, and pouched soup. Moreover, there is an increasing preference among consumers for instant soup as a snack item due to the growing demand for vegan and vegetarian snack items in convenient formats. Therefore, the convenience and the vegan factors of instant noodles are driving the instant soup segment. Hence, companies are offering highly nutritious ingredients in soups.

Moreover, due to busier lifestyles and the increased demand for convenience food, companies are increasingly coming up with packaging formats convenient to consume and dispose of. For example, Campbell offers soup in microwavable cups, making it a more suitable packaging format than powdered soup in regular packets. Additionally, various companies operating in the segment are coming up with product launches and increasing their product offerings.

North America Remains the Leading Market in the Soup Industry

The changing perception about soups as a healthier food choice and preference towards soup as a quick meal, supported by the launch of premium, clean-label, and novel flavors, are expected to propel the market's growth in the North American region.​ In the product type segment, the canned soup segment holds the largest market share, followed by the instant and dehydrated soup segments. The major factor driving the growth of the North American soup market is the increasingly busy lifestyle of people in countries like the United States and Canada, where people opt for ready-to-go meals. Additionally, innovation in soup products by manufacturers, in line with the current snacking trends, and stocking the right soup variety for their customers are driving the sales in these countries. For instance, in 2019, Safe Catch, a clean-label seafood company, launched a new brand, Safe Harvest, in the United States, offering a slate of soups made with clean ingredients and packed in reusable glass jars, and transparency in both packaging and ingredient origin. ​

Competitive Landscape

The global soup market is highly competitive due to the presence of numerous international and regional players. The market has prominent players, such as Campbell Soup Company, Unilever, General Mills, and Kraft Heinz. Companies are competing based on price, quality, ingredients, and promotions. Therefore, they are focused on strategic initiatives to achieve prominent market shares.​ Additionally, these companies are increasing their investments in research and development (R&D) to develop products with innovative favors and ingredients in line with consumer needs in order to expand their presence and maintain their position in the market.​

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

IBM Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Internap Corporation
Packet Inc. (An Equinix Inc. Company)
Scaleway Inc.
Amazon Web Services Inc
Rackspace Inc.
CenturyLink, Inc.
LightEdge Solutions, Inc

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