Since 1869, Campbell’s put delicious soup in our mouths and “mmm mmm good” on our lips. But now, the iconic company that defined comfort food for more than a century is scaling back operations, a saucy move that’s causing a lot of discomfort among its consumers.
Keep reading to learn what’s happening to the kitchen cupboard staple, items that have already disappeared from supermarket shelves in the UK!
In the 1960’s, Andy Warhol immortalized his appreciation for Campbell’s Soup that kept him fed for two decades. Using metallic enamel pain on canvas, he painted 32 nearly identical cans of Campbells on canvas, each panel featuring a flavor from that time.
“I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years, I guess, the same thing over and over again,” Warhol said of his inspiration, which now hangs at MoMA.
Today, Campbell’s has a portfolio that includes hundreds of condensed soups and ready to eat foods, Pace Foods (salsa), Prego (pasta sauces), Pepperidge Farms (Goldfish crackers) Swanson (TV dinners) and Snyder’s-Lance (pretzels and chips).
Dwindling supplies
In 2018, Campbell’s stopped soup production at its almost 100-year-old facility in Toronto, Canada, canning about 400 people from their jobs.
And in November 2023, consumers across the U.K. were scrambling to find their favorite tinned soups after discovering the iconic red and white cans disappeared from supermarket shelves.
According to the Sun, one pack of six cans was being sold on eBay for more than $50US.
Lamenting the lost treasure, one online user writes, “I’ve been to EVERY major supermarket I can think of…and…NOTHING! The condensed tomato soup is a staple in [our] house, used weekly to make a pasta dish the kids absolutely love, but it’s vanished off the face of the earth.”
Though some flavors reappeared, others were rebranded, and UK consumers are still begging for their favorites, like celery.
Here are some flavors consumers around the world will never see again:
- Pepper Pot Soup
- K-Cup single serve soups
- Chunky Philly-Style Cheesesteak Soup
- Scotch Broth Soup
- Green Pea soup (this was featured in Warhol’s famous collection).
