Amid changing consumer preferences and slumping soup sales, Campbell Soup Co. has tinkered with its classic chicken soup recipe.
It eliminated 13 ingredients including a number of flavoring chemicals, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), but also left out celery and onions, The New York Times reports. The new recipe also cuts potassium chloride, maltodextrin and disodium guanylate, among other ingredients. It adds water, dehydrated onions and dehydrated chicken broth.
"We're closing the gap between the kitchen and our plants," Denise M. Morrison, chief executive of Campbell, told the newspaper.
Calls to Campbell Soup's corporate communications office were not returned.
The move, which cut the number of ingredients from 30 to 20, comes as consumers are increasingly aware of what they're eating and how it affects the environment.
"Before, when we talked about our business, we talked about how many cases we shipped," Morrison said, according to the Times. "Today, we're talking about our food" — as in what's in it, where it comes from and what impact it has on the environment."
The change also comes at a time when both global soup sales and Campbell's soup sales have lagged.
The newspaper adds:
"Campbell Soup accounted for almost three-quarters of the $1.6 billion in condensed soup sales here last year, but its unit sales fell more than 5 percent, according to IRI, a data and research firm. The company also dominates the ready-to-eat soup business, but there, too, it lost more than 5 percent of market share last year."
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