How Does Campbell's Make Vegetable Soup?

History

Campbell's vegetable soup has been a favorite for generations. It was one of the first soups introduced in 1899. In 1915 pasta letters were added. Other versions of vegetable soup were added as time went on and there are many varieties of Campbell's vegetable soup now. The kind with the pasta letters, also known as "The Alphabet Soup," remains the best-selling one. The soups were originally prepared using a boiling process. All the ingredients were boiled, submerged in hot water together and canned. In the past several years, Campbell's Soup Co. has changed the way it make its soup.

Cold Blend Process

The process of cooking was changed to cold-blend technology. Cold-blend technology uses intermittent cold instead of constant boiling heat. It also consists of cooking the ingredients separately as opposed to all at the same time in the same container. After each ingredient is cooked individually then they are all joined together and mixed before packing into aluminum cans. From there the cans are labeled and shipped to grocery stores.This process is designed to bring out the flavors of each ingredient. In addition, cold-blend technology allows food to be packed more tightly. As a result, more ingredients can be added to each can.

Types

Cold-blend technology has been used for 10 Campbell's vegetable soups. These include alphabet vegetable, old fashioned vegetable, vegetable beef, minestrone and vegetarian vegetable soup. Because of the more densely packed soups, better flavor, bolder colors and clearer broths resulting from the new technology, Campbell's soups sales have increased. Plans are in the works to convert all other Campbell's condensed soups to cold technology, as well.