The frozen meals aisle is about to get Chunky.
The Campbell’s Company is expanding its Chunky Soup brand into frozen meals for the first time with eight microwaveable frozen bowls, each offering up to 28 grams of protein.
The new microwavable meals are rolling out to stores nationwide, with shoppers already spotting them at retailers such as Walmart and Save Mart. However, Campbell's online "Where to Buy" tool has not yet been updated to show where the meals are available.
The expansion comes as more Americans prioritize protein in their diets. About 70 percent of consumers say they want to eat more protein, up from 59 percent four years ago, according to the International Food Information Council. Food manufacturers have also seen increased interest in protein-rich products as more people use GLP-1 weight-loss medications, which often require users to eat additional protein to help maintain muscle mass.
“Chunky has always stood for bold flavor and real satisfaction in a soup that eats like a meal,” Gunner Siverly, Chunky’s frozen brand manager, told Food Dive. “With Chunky Frozen Bowls, we’re bringing that same fill-you-up promise to the freezer aisle. ... As more consumers turn to frozen for everyday meals, we saw an opportunity to raise the bar by offering convenient, satisfying meals that actually fill you up.”
The Chunky Bowl lineup includes the following options:
- Beefy pasta with stroganoff sauce: beef, pasta, mushrooms in a stroganoff sauce
- Buffalo-style chicken mac and cheese: crispy breaded chicken and elbow pasta in buffalo-style cheese sauce
- Bacon cheeseburger mac and cheese: beef and pork, jalapenos, bacon and pasta in cheese sauce
- Chili mac: beef and pork, macaroni, beans and cheddar cheese in chili-tomato sauce
- Country fried chicken with mashed potatoes: crispy chicken over mashed potatoes with gravy and corn
- Meat lovers’ lasagna: mafalda pasta, beef and pork crumbles and ricotta in marinara
- Philly cheesesteak mac and cheese: beef, elbow macaroni, green peppers and cheesy sauce
- Cheesy loaded potato bowl with steak and bacon: potatoes, steak, bacon in a cheese sauce
Food companies are increasingly expanding well-known brands into new product categories because familiar names have a better chance of succeeding than entirely new products.
With as many as 90 percent of new food launches failing within a year, leveraging established brands can reduce risk and attract shoppers more quickly, according to Food Dive.
Recent examples include longstanding companies such as Nestlé bringing its Stouffer's brand into the shelf-stable macaroni and cheese market and Kraft Heinz launching Philadelphia Cream Cheese frosting after identifying strong consumer demand for the flavor, the outlet reports.