General Mills trims soup choices by half

The soup aisle probably won’t ever look the same again.

General Mills Inc., whose vast array of packaged foods spans Progresso to Cheerios to Yoplait, has cut 40 types of soup from its lineup during the coronavirus pandemic — almost half the company’s offerings — as it rethinks products in an age of pantry-loading. And those flavors, CEO Jeffrey Harmening says, won’t be coming back.

“They may not be able to get 16 varieties of chicken noodle, but they can still get chicken noodle” he said in a video interview from Minneapolis. “As I think forward a year from now, I think that we’ll see fewer varieties on the shelf.”

Americans, used to being spoiled with store choices, may see that the shift to fewer product offerings is a long-lasting change even when the pandemic ends. It’s part of a broader shift brought about by lockdowns that’s altering the way consumers shop and eat. People are spending more time in the kitchen and turning back to oldschool brands that offer comfort during an unsettling time.

The culling of soup doesn’t mean it’s falling out of favor — the U.S. unit that includes Progresso saw retail sales soar 68 percent last quarter. The reduction in varieties is caused more by retailers faced with complicated logistics of e-commerce preferring to carry fewer products, allowing General Mills to focus on its top sellers.