Soup sales are a sign of the times

Soup lines were a sign of the hard times during the Great Depression. Today, rising soup sales seem to be a bellwether of today's recession and belt tightening by American consumers.

On November 21, Bloomberg.com reported that shares of Campbell Soup Company led the Standard & Poor's Packaged Foods Index over the last three months. Next year, said Philadelphia-based Mitchell Pinheiro, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, will be "the year of condensed soup, driven by the backdrop of severe economic pressure on the consumer."

In our report on chicken soup, Campbell's Select Chicken With Egg Noodles was judged only good by our panel of tasters, due to its "slightly sour, fatty mouthfeel" and "mushy vegetables." The top soup was The Original SoupMan ("like stew . . . lots of various vegetables"), although at $2.99 per one-cup serving it's hardly a recession special, comparatively speaking. (Soups ranged in price from 28 cents to $2.99 per cup. The Campbell's was $1.32.)

You'll need to warm up your soup. So read our report on microwave ovens to see which models deliver even heat. If you prefer using your range or cooktop, check out our review of cookware, which covers nearly 30 models of uncoated, nonstick, and mixed pot-and-pan sets.—Daniel DiClerico

Comments

[Bob Hughes]

A great alternative to ramen dried noodle soups are the Japanese style odon noodle soups... which are far more substantial and taste great. The noodles aren't dried and only have to be warmed up. I don't see them at most supermarkets, but I can get them at 3 packs for a buck at local Asian supermarkets here in San Francisco.