Canned Foods Are Back

Consumer spending on bagged soups and canned meals is on the rise. According to market research, this is due to higher prices. Compared with the previous year, people are also buying significantly more in stock again.
510 million euros worth of  canned soups and stews were sold last year. “After a significant decline in 2021 compared to the previous year, these products were thus able to gain ground again,” NielsenIQ analyst Thanh Nguyen Dao told Lebensmittelzeitung, putting the increase at 15.6 percent. Sales are following suit, climbing by up to 2.9 percent on a per kilo or per pack basis. The trend for dried soups is also pointing upward. 139.4 million euros were sold in 2022 (plus 5.7 percent). Sales climbed to 146.6 million liters (up by 4.2 percent) and 180.2 million packs sold (up by 2.9 percent).

Stocking up at the office or at home

Returning from the home- office and supplies for the workplace, along with stocking up on canned and bagged products due to the Ukraine war are cited by market research as possible reasons. Sales of mini-meals, as which NielsenIQ counts potato or pasta dishes as mini-terrines, increased by 10.5 percent to now 306.5 million euros. “However, this is mainly thanks to increased prices,” the analyst said. In fact, kilo sales were down slightly by 1.6 percent to 23.7 million. Whereas sales on a pack basis were up 6.8 percent – an indication of reduced fill quantities. NielsenIQ shows that they have dropped again in sales, by 9.4 percent to 50.7 million euros. Price increases averaging 7 percent per pack were unable to counteract this.
Cooking kits, which include all ingredients, also reportedly continue to trend downward, both in sales and volume. “"It's possible that the flattening Corona pandemic has further supported this trend. People are not cooking at home as much anymore,” Thanh Nguyen Dao said.
The fact that cans are suitable as packaging material is due to their special protective function. Metal ensures protection like no other material: heat, moisture and light don't stand a chance. Dirt, parasites, and bacteria are also kept out. Metal packaging also plays to its strengths when it comes to hazardous goods, as it is not breakable and impact -resistant.
Metal packaging and closures are particularly easy to recycle and turn into new products. “In this way, today’'s food can becomes tomorrow’'s car body, the day after tomorrow’s ship’s propeller, or just another can. And the raw materials once used are not lost, but are reused in a perfect cycle,” explains the Tin Packaging Association.