Free Soup!

Even though I work for a consumer products and foodservice company my location does not oversee the product development, manufacturing, or even marketing so it is not often I get to see the latest offerings first hand, but today was an exception. The employees of our department were invited to a foodservice sampling event onsite. The Chef Francisco brand of the Heinz Foodservice Soups division introduced the new ‘3-in-1’ line of concentrated foodservice soups. The concentrated soups are designed such that if reconstituted 1:1 with water the product serves as a soup, if reconstituted 1:1 with whole milk the product can serve as a sauce and if reconstituted 2:1 with sour cream the product becomes a dip.

                The ‘3-in-1’ concentrated line is currently offered in seven varieties: Creamy Spinach & Artichoke, Cheesy Chicken Tortilla, Caribbean Style Jerk Chicken, Steak and Black Bean, Chicken Gumbo, Tomato Basil, and Black Bean. The product is designed to give foodservice operators full utilization for their purchase. In addition, the concentrates are ideal for foodservice show exhibits, product demonstrations, and trainings. The variety I had the opportunity to try in all three forms was the creamy spinach & artichoke. I sampled the product as a soup, a sauce over penne pasta, and a dip for tortilla chips. I found the offering to be full of flavor in all of its varieties and would be something I would be happy to purchase at a local foodservice outlet. This is a good example of marketing through innovation – putting a new spin on an old idea. In the coming weeks I will report on the progress of this product rollout as information become available to me. For more information on the new ‘3-in-1’ product line and all of the foodservice soups offered by Heinz, check out www.heinzsoups.com.