Heinz Soups,anyone?

Does anyone remember Campbell's early on competition in the canned soup business,Heinz condensed soups? I remember them in the 50's,but I also remember we never bought them. Maybe that explains why they're still not on the shelves.
Anyone older than 40 remember eating a bowl of Heinz soups? What types? How did they compare to Campbell's? I guess this is a piece of soup history dying away!

The Heinz canned soup operation is still around:
http://www.bayvalleyfoods.com/products/retail/soups.html

Heinz just couldn't compete against Campbell in retail outlets. I think Heinz soups have been off supermarket shelves for at least 20 years. But, Heinz became the largest producer of supermarket brand soups. They also sold soups under their own name to the foodservice market. Heinz sold the line of business in 2002 to DelMonte. In 2006, DelMonte sold the line of business to TreeHouse Foods. Bay Valley is their brand.

Heinz seemed to have many of the same types as Campbell's. I think the same Heinz types were also sold under supermarket/private labels. I only have vague memories of Heinz soups, and that is that I preferred Campbell's for some types and Heinz for other types. They were pretty similar, but each competing type had its own flavor profile. By the early 80's I switched to higher quality brands of canned soups, such as Progresso and the Baxter soups imported from Scotland. Anyway, it looks like the old Heinz soup plant in Pittsburgh is still in operation. Some is made in Illinois.

Heinz still markets soups in the UK, and are often found in expatriate shops here.

I sell Heinz Soups from the UK. Not only will you find them in British expatriate shops, you can find them in supermarkets around the country in the British/Irish food section.

Thanks all of you for the info. I'm gonna try to find some in the British food section of my A&P. I remember Heinz products in England when I visited there. Are they packaged here or there?

They are packaged somewhere in Europe. With all the Common Market rules, it is like trying to find out where ShopRite's bacon is made. The labels read: H.J. Heinz, Hayes, Middlesex, England. I had their Leek Soup recently, and it is very good.

Thanks for the info.

http://www.heinzsoup.com/

There's something about that name Heinz....

To the best of my knowledge, H.J. Heinz is still in the soup business, but the Heinz name is just not on the label. The Wolfgang Puck soups were brought to market by Heinz, and as far as I know, they are still made by Heinz. The label says that the soup is made by "Country Gourmet Foods, Pittsburgh, Pa.", which I assume is just a marketing ploy by Heinz.

After all, this is a premium-price product and it might be hard to sell at those prices if it said "Heinz" on the label.

Makes you wonder how many other brands are out there being "Ghost" cooked by H.J. Heinz!

I was out on Long Island shopping today, and ID'd four soups from Bay Valley. For that full Pittsburgh experience, try condensed Target Market Pantry, Walmart, C&S' BestYet brands. Stop and Shop's Chunky and Select (but not condensed) also are from Bay Valley.

I have some Wolfgang Puck soup at home and trace it back to Faribault Foods. They are not terribly good and I remember them better when they first came out. Maybe Heinz still made them before they sold that line of business to DelMonte.

I don't think Country Gourmet Foods is a front for Heinz, I think they are just marketing the line of Wolfgang Puck soups. They could change manufacturers at will.

It just came to me that Heinz used to sell a Turkey Noodle condensed soup that was very good. When Heinz-branded condensed soups disappeared, I was not yet saavy about private labels and didn't go looking for it under a supermarket label. Those were the days before nuitrition labels on foods, and you were always reading diatribes by nuitritionists about the huge levels of sodium in cheap canned soups.

The current heirs to the USA Heinz soup legacy, Bay Valley appear willing to produce anything for money. If Mayor Mike (Bloomberg), because of term limits, has to go into the soup business and wants to sell the best soups on the market, no doubt Bay Valley will satisfy his wishes.

David,thanks for the research. Interesting!!

We have Heinz Soups here in Canada.I have Tomato,and Mushroom in my cupboard.They go on sale a lot for 33 cents a can...so we stock up.

Allyson, are they canned in England?

Heinz soups are sold here in the South at Publix. I'll have to give them a try.

quote:

Originally posted by AllysonChains

We have Heinz Soups here in Canada.I have Tomato,and Mushroom in my cupboard.They go on sale a lot for 33 cents a can...so we stock up.

This is quite interesting. Some Canadian message boards talk about Heinz soup being sold for 39 cents, 59 cents, 33 cents, 25 cents. The sellers are listed as drug chains, mass merchandisers, and limited item "warehouse" grocery chains. But the Heinz Canada web site does not mention making soups. The price is too cheap to be an imported product from the UK. So Heinz is either making it in Leamington, Ontario, or it a private label arrangement. Bay Valley?

World Market (Costco) carries some Heinz soups, baked beans, and other items.
It's where I go to get my HP Sauce, and also my cans of Creamed Rice.

Also, in WI - V. Richard's (part of the Sendik's chain, now) on Bluemound Rd. carries some Heinz soups and other "English" goodies.

This is interesting. Funny how Heinz can get into a Publix,yet is non-existant in major chains.Thought they were out of business!

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

There's something about that name Heinz....

Patricia H.- K.?

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

quote:

Originally posted by AllysonChains

We have Heinz Soups here in Canada.I have Tomato,and Mushroom in my cupboard.They go on sale a lot for 33 cents a can...so we stock up.

This is quite interesting. Some Canadian message boards talk about Heinz soup being sold for 39 cents, 59 cents, 33 cents, 25 cents. The sellers are listed as drug chains, mass merchandisers, and limited item "warehouse" grocery chains. But the Heinz Canada web site does not mention making soups. The price is too cheap to be an imported product from the UK. So Heinz is either making it in Leamington, Ontario, or it a private label arrangement. Bay Valley?

I just looked on one of the cans.It says North York,Ontario on it.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Allyson, are they canned in England?

I don't know honey.Your guess is as good as mine.

The plot thickens. The Heinz annual report for 2007 reports that Heinz Canada brought out a line of soups in 2007 with names of kids characters on them, licensing the name of the characters:
http://www.heinz.com/2007annualreport/other.htm
Yet, the web site of Heinz Canada does not list soups as one of their products, nor does it include Heinz soups as an ingredient in any of their recipes:
http://www.heinzitup.com/products.asp

You can find Heinz beans made in Leamington, Ontario in NYC grocery stores too. That label also says North York, Ontario and no country of manufacture. I have also found Heinz Canada gravies (inspected by the Canadian Gov't) and Heinz Austrailia soups in dollar stores in the NYC metro area. This is all just parlor room fun, because Heinz always adjusted the recipe for every local market they were in.

MiamiDon............I'm a Hunts, Delmonte, Stokley's, Great Value (WalMart)or any other manufacturer of catsup but Heinz. I haven't had Heinz products since 11/04. Are they still on the market?

World's biggest seller of ketchup.

One more bit of the Heinz soup saga - Great American soups. Heinz marketed these ready to serve (non-condensed) soups while I was in the service in the early 70's, so don't know much about them. However, Big Lots stores in New Jersey just got in a batch of Great American condensed soups and gravies. Some of the labels still have DelMonte's name on them, others have Bay Valley's name on them. Whether the recipes are the same as when Heinz had their names on the can is anybody's guess.

I remember that line....I haven't seen it since the 70's, at least...so I'm willing to bet this line was not very popular or well distributed...I wonder if being in Big Lots means it ,too, is now discontinued!

I've seen Heinz soups in our local Wegman's in the British foods section.

I understand John Kerry is the "Official Taster" for the company!

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

I remember that line....I haven't seen it since the 70's, at least...so I'm willing to bet this line was not very popular or well distributed...I wonder if being in Big Lots means it ,too, is now discontinued!

I think the condensed soups at Big Lots are there because they are overstocks. I have seen them there in the past. Some investment message board noted they are sold to military commissaries. I can't find any civilian chain that carries the brand. For nostalgia buffs, this seems to be the only label that the actual manufacturer (Heinz>Del Monte>Bay Valley) put their own name on. Folks who have missed Heinz soups for a generation now can get them again!

I work at a grocer in Ontario Canada and can 100% tell you soup is still made in Leamington, On. They have the basic soups, Tomato, Mushroom etc, and now they have Dora, Winnie the Pooh and one other.

I JUST BOUGHT HEINZ CREAM OF CHICKEN IN A BIG CAN AT BRL-BUY RIGHT LIQUIDATORS IN TAMAQUA,PA

Thanks, peanutluv. As I noted in my post of March 1st, Heinz did still sell soups in the large cans under their name to the food service market, even after they sold the soup business to Del Monte. I never did find out if they had Del Monte/Bay Valley make the large cans of soup for them after 2002, or if they kept producing it themselves. By any chance, do you see the numbers P51 or P51A stamped or printed on the can anywhere?

Sort of off-topic but looks like Heinz also made beef and liver soup for babies. The ad is from a 1937 womens' magazine.