A shelf full of Chicken Noodle soup on sale now at Dollar Tree (DLTR) sums up perfectly the troubles of Campbell Soup Co. (CPB).
There are three rational reasons why a once premium brand might be stacked on the shelves of a dollar store, none good. The first is that the product extension is a closeout; often, lame product extensions and seasonal extras are unloaded there. It could also be that the product is a smaller size sampler version.
In this case, it looks like a purposeful over-run, executed poorly. For a brand that is Warhol art, there is much wrong with the packaging. The oversized, fat can is not the normal Campbell's size; the traditional Campbell's can dimension is so iconic that an any aberration feels, well, off. It has a discount printed on the front of the label, a "25% bigger" banner, in ugly type. Under the chicken noodle, it reads "Dry Egg Noodle Recipe." What is gained by adding the phrase and why would you offer more at a dollar store? Why would you produce a cheaper "dry egg" version of your most revered wet noodle product just for the dollar store? Answer? Desperation, and underused factory capacity. Note: The soup tasted bad.
