Campbell's Soup Co. Simmers

Campbell's Soup Co. has announced a successful fiscal year, likely prompting an "M'm! M'm! Good!", from shareholders, employees, and soup lovers around the world.

According to FoodBusinessNews.net, Campbell Soup Co. claimed "sales growth for fiscal 2009 with a long term target range between 3% and 4%... with net earnings per share to exceed the 5% to 7% range from the fiscal 2008 base of $2.09."

And to keep stirring the pot, Campbell's Soup Co. prepares for growth.

On the burner ;-) for this year alone, the company ambitiously plans to:

• broaden its Chunky line to include varieties with lean meats and full vegetable servings
• reduce sodium levels in the iconized Tomato soup and Healthy Request soups and feature the American Heart Association certification on these labels
• enhance the Select Harvest line with five new Mediterranean-style soup varieties
• expand its Chinese market, both product-wise and geographically
• upsize the Russian market, both product-wise and by merging with the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co.

Chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, Craig Owens, is optimistic.

"In our U.S. soup business, we have delivered one of the best top-line performances in many years.

"We've introduced market-leading innovations with the successful launch of several new products, making significant gains in the ready-to-serve segment with our Campbell Select Harvest line and improving our position in the highly competitive broth segment.

"We have achieved all of this and more in an extremely challenging economic environment."

With industry-wide product reformulations aimed at salt reduction, food ingredient distributors may want to be aware of potential changes in salt sales and the corresponding effects on substitute food ingredient sales.

But for Campbell's Soup Co., it appears that the company is true to their current slogan: "Nourishing people's lives everywhere, everyday."

Perhaps it's time for the Tomato Soup to sit for another portrait.