The launch of chilled soups might at first seem bad news for cans but, as Heinz points out, they have helped spice up interest in the entire sector S itting between a snack, a meal and an ingredient, soup has been a regular testing ground for new formats ­ and not just in cans, either. Heinz European director for canned foods, Robin Walker, says: "Pouch soups are using similar technology to the can ­ and because they're ambient, they are actually bringing people to the fixture. "The objective is, of course, to sell pouches of soup, but they continue to pull consumers to the ambient soups in cans by making the whole fixture more exciting and interesting. "For every 10 consumers who pick up a pouch at the fixture, we believe quite a number ­ maybe half or more ­ will be attracted to the canned fixture and look at it either because they've never looked at it before, or look at it in a different way. I'd be surprised if the majority of consumers who pick up a pouch don't actually pick up some cans at the same time. "Certainly, our research indicates that consumers are buying across the range and the pouch will drive them to be a little more adventurous, maybe. So they'll buy the premium canned product they haven't tried before, because they've been convinced that this sector can produce better tastes than they believed originally." Walker says he sees chilled soups as a good thing for sales in general. "The consumer of a chilled soup and a canned or ambient soup is not the same person. There are a number of consumers who have come into the supermarket via chilled soups ­ people who felt they wouldn't buy prepared soups at all ­ but have become interested by some of the interesting and exciting flavours that the chilled people have done." He explains that what happens next is that consumers start to take into account the lack of convenience the chilled soups offer. "Those products have a short shelf life and most people's lifestyles these days require them to buy for several days. Some of those consumers come into the chilled market for a special occasion and say to themselves, Oh, I could do with something that will be there when I need it rather than when I've got to eat it'. So it's not just we who benefit ­ it could be a Baxters or even an own label premium can." The company has not been standing still either, adopting more convenient opening systems for cans to cash in on any added interest in the whole sector. Walker says: "We're continually looking to make the presentation better and we've added varieties that fit today's consumption habits, such as the Italian chicken and pasta product. "We've put easy open ends on all of our cans. This is a fairly considerable investment in the market place. Soups have all got easy open ends on for this season, which make them a lot more convenient for the consumer. "The fact is that easy open ends here changed the consumer's mindset about the product." {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}

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