NEW YORK, June 10, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (OTCQB:SOUP) There is a revolution taking place in the soup aisle, and it will be on full display by Soupman (Booth 3014) at the 2014 Food Marketing Institute Connect Show June 10-13 at Chicago's McCormick Place. The visionary soup-maker is one of the market's leading innovators re-invigorating what had been a tired and declining category with exciting varieties of premium soups packaged in new vibrant, graphic shelf safe cartons.
Since its inception in 1984 as a storefront eatery, Soupman has been legendary for its extraordinary formulations and flavors. As a nationally distributed brand, the company brings a novel but increasingly important dimension to the packaged soup market that is fueling this category-defining revival: the small-batch craft approach. In keeping with its philosophy, the company is unveiling three inventive new flavors at the show, packaged in Tetra Pak's transformative, eco-friendly cartons: Chicken Gumbo, Crab Corn Chowder and Jam-ba LAYA (the famous Seinfeld pronunciation, of course).
Given the category's increasingly epicurean-oriented direction towards natural, high-quality, fresh-tasting ingredients, Soupman has also reformulated its lentil soup to a new gold standard, making it all natural and gluten-free.
"We are excited to see the great success of the Original Soupman ready-to-serve soups and its recent addition of new flavors. And it is great to know that our Tetra Pak cartons, thanks to their smart design and environmental and protection profile are helping this product line score high with savvy consumers all over the country," notes Suley Muratoglu, Tetra Pak's vice president of Marketing and Product Management.
The decades-old model of aisles featuring a solid wall of cans sporting basic, routine, condensed formulations is morphing quite rapidly into a panoply of graphically exciting contemporary packaging filled with modernized classics and bold, often ethnic or regionally inspired flavors. Soupman is an unquestionable industry leader in this trend.
"Currently, we are shelved alongside the industry leaders in the soup aisle in more than 3,000 supermarkets," notes Soupman CEO Lloyd Sugarman. "But we expect that number to increase when key buyers and other industry leaders sample our soups at FMI." He added, "We are proud to say we are made in America and are revealing our new graphic design at the conference."
Soupman CEO Lloyd Sugarman and Tetra Pak Vice President for Marketing and Product Management Suley Muratoglu will both be on hand to discuss the soups, their impact and relevance to the category and the Tetra Pak carton that has been instrumental to this revolution.
ABOUT SOUPMAN: The Original Soupman opened its doors in 1984 at 55th Street & 8th Avenue in Manhattan, and quickly became a worldwide destination. Rated #1 by Zagat and praised by the New York Times as "Art, not Soup", it set the standard for innovation and excellence long before the famous "Seinfeld" episode made it a cultural icon. Shaquille O'Neal serves as an advisor to, and equity partner in the company, as does Mr. October, Reggie Jackson and Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominated and Tony Award® winning actor Jason Alexander. Soupman Inc., parent company of The Original Soupman, Inc. is a fully reporting public company trading under the symbol SOUP. For additional information on our company please visit: www.originalsoupman.com. Follow us on Twitter@OriginalSoupman and "Like" us on Facebook.
ABOUT TETRA PAK: Tetra Pak is the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with our customers and suppliers, we provide safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world. With more than 23,000 employees based in over 85 countries, we believe in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business. Our motto, "PROTECTS WHAT'S GOOD™," reflects our vision to make food safe and available, everywhere. More information about Tetra Pak is available at www.tetrapakusa.com. Tetra Pak and PROTECTS WHAT'S GOOD are trademarks belonging to the Tetra Pak Group.
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