CAMDEN, NJ. — Grappling with financial uncertainty, consumers increasingly are cooking at home, doing so at levels not seen since the early COVID period, said Mick Beekhuizen, president and chief executive officer of The Campbell’s Co.

Beekhuizen’s comments came after Campbell’s reported 15% net sales growth in its Meals & Beverage division for the third quarter. Even excluding the March 2024 acquisition of Sovos Brands Inc., the business unit tallied 6% organic net sales growth in the period, fueled by a 7% rise in volume/mix and gains in US soup, Rao’s pasta sauces and Canada.

“We started to see consumer sentiment softening in January,” Beekhuizen told analysts in a June 2 conference call. “This continued throughout Q3, with consumers making more deliberate choices with their spending on food. A key outcome is a growing preference for home-cooked meals, leading to the highest levels of meals prepared at home since early 2020. Additionally, consumers are favoring ingredients that help stretch tighter food budgets. Both provided a tailwind for our Meals & Beverages business, especially for our condensed cooking soups, broth and Italian sauces.”

Of Campbell’s eight “leadership brands” in Meals & Beverages, six brands — Campbell’s, Rao’s, Campbell’s Chunky, Swanson, Pace and Pacific — added or held dollar share in the third quarter versus a year ago. That performance was led by soup, as retail sales of the Campbell’s brand rose 4% in wet soup, 2% in condensed soup and 15% in broth, above the category in those segments.

“Our soup portfolio continued its strong performance in Q3, benefiting from the increased at-home cooking trend,” Beekhuizen said. “Campbell’s total wet soup grew dollar share by 0.4 points and saw the sixth consecutive quarter of volume share growth, driven by household gains, particularly among younger cohorts as they increasingly cook at home.

“The broth category has grown since 2020 and more recently further accelerated, fueled by the uptick in cooking behavior, making our broth business a continued bright spot within the portfolio. In Q3, we significantly outpaced category consumption and grew dollar share by nearly 3 points in the quarter. Swanson saw strong consumption and volume growth and has now gained or held millennial households for seven consecutive quarters. Our strong performance in the broth category is further emphasized by Pacific’s continued double-digit consumption growth.”

Recipe promotions for the use of Campbell’s canned soup in cooking — including cream of mushroom for green bean casserole and cheddar cheese soup for macaroni and cheese — proved hugely successful, notably the latter.

“In the current economic environment, we are constantly looking to provide consumers with exciting new options that let them use our products in more versatile ways to cook meals at home,” Beekhuizen said. “A great example of that is our mac and cheese marketing activation. In the third quarter, we introduced a new easy and delicious way to make this a household classic. This activation helped drive the 11^th consecutive quarter of condensed cooking soup share growth and added approximately 1 million households to Campbell’s condensed cooking portfolio — the highest household penetration gain for condensed in any quarter over the past four years. More than half of these new buyers were millennials, displaying the brand’s growing popularity with this generation.”

The recipe promotion, he added, “demonstrates the growth we can unlock by continuing to highlight the versatility of our condensed soups in making delicious, affordable and stretchable meals.”

Retail sales growth for Campbell’s sauces slowed in the third quarter, up 2% for Rao’s but flat for Prego. Still, the company said those brands remain No. 1 and No. 2 in the category, respectively, by retail dollar share. Rao’s was a key draw for Campbell’s in the Sovos acquisition.

“The Rao's brand remains strong, and we still have significant opportunities to increase distribution, household penetration and awareness of Rao’s when comparing it to Prego,” Beekhuizen said. “We have a history of category growth and leadership and believe that the distinctive, premium nature of Rao’s sauces will allow us to continue that success. Rao’s sauce is reaching a point of maturity on core distribution, so we are investing in other levers to sustain growth, including marketing focused on highlighting the Italian origin of Rao’s ingredients, continued innovation and sharpened sales execution.”