Shanghai Lvsheng Industrial Co.,Ltd

Commercial soup

Packets of soup

Commercial soup became popular with the invention of canning in the 19th century, and today a great variety of canned and dried soups are on the market. Dr. John T. Dorrance, a chemist with the Campbell Soup Company invented condensed soup in 1897. Today, Campbell's Tomato, Cream of Mushroom and Chicken Noodle soups are three of the most popular soups in America. Americans consume approximately 2.5 billion bowls of these three soups alone each year. Canned Italian-style soups, such as minestrone are also popular.

Canned soup can be condensed, in which case it is prepared by adding water (or sometimesmilk), or it can be ready-to-eat, meaning that it only needs to be warmed. Canned soup can be prepared by heating in a pan or in the microwave. The soups are often used as a simple base for homemade soups, with the consumer adding anything from a few vegetables to eggs, cream and pasta.

Condensing soup allows it to be packed into a smaller can and sold at a lower price than other canned soups. The soup is usually doubled in volume by adding "a can full" of water or milk (about 10 ounces).

In recent years, the canned soup market has exploded with so-called "ready-to-eat" soups, which require no additional water to make. Microwaveable bowls have expanded the ready-to-eat canned soup market even more. The plastic microwaveable bowls offer convenience in the workplace and are popular lunch items.

Oriental-style soup mixes containing ramen noodles are marketed as an inexpensive instant lunch, requiring only hot water for preparation. Vegetable, chicken base, potato, pasta and cheese soups are also available in dry mix form, ready to be served by adding hot water.