Soup: are you making a packet?
04/05/2004
After water, perhaps, no category of Middle Eastern food says “sustenance” more than soup. It has been a staple going back several centuries, and many of the ingredients originate from Bedouin traditions. Since the 7th century, Islam and its dietary laws have dictated what goes into meals and how they are eaten. From Spain and across North Africa to Persia (now Iran) and beyond, we see Islam ’s influence in food.
Source: Middle East Grocer
In the Middle East, soup is not normally an appetizer but a meal. “In the Mediterranean, a robust soup is often the whole meal,” wrote Joyce Goldstein in Mediter-ranean the Beautiful Cookbook. “Rather than serving a broth or simple purée, the thrifty Mediterranean cook adds beans, rice, pasta, bread, meat or fish to the pot, making the soup a filling and nourishing repast. Such a practice offers a more practical way to eat as well: It is more healthful to eat a large lunch that one can burn up and digest during the day and then enjoy a soup for supper.”
Legumes and grains are important elements in Middle Eastern soup. Garbanzo beans or chickpeas, lentils, fava beans and split peas can be found simmering over many fires. This is practical, as beans and grains are easily transportable across naturally hostile terrain.
When meat is used, it's often lamb and, sometimes, beef. Fresh vegetables - whatever is in season - are used, too. And, of course, spices and herbs that put Middle Eastern food on the culinary map add depth to seemingly simple ingredients. Many Middle East soups will intertwine the stupefying flavours of freshly ground cumin, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, ground red peppers, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric and saffron.
Harira is an excellent and delicious example of Middle Eastern soup. This is the national soup of Morocco and is made especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Harira mixes lentils, lamb, onions and garlic with cinnamon and ginger, a tasty combination prevalent in Moroccan dishes. Harira has many versions and can serve vegetarians as well as meat-eaters. In Morocco, it is served at sunset each day of Ramadan to break the fast.
Soup, which is represented largely by dehydrated soup, is an established and very popular product in Saudi Arabia. In 2003, sales are expected to exceed SR252 million, up more than 31% on 1998 and 5.7% on 2002 in current value terms. Volume sales grew also healthily almost at the same rate over the review period, reflecting the stability in unit prices of these products, particularly dehydrated soup.
Dehydrated soup continues to be the most popular and traditional type of soup, set to account for an impressive 98% of total value sales in 2003. The leading brands, Maggi (owned by Nestlé) and Knorr (owned by Unilever) are manufactured by long-standing joint ventures between local producers and multinational brand owners. The length of time these products have been available, their wide variety of flavours and strong advertising support were the major reasons for the sustained healthy volume and value growth demonstrated over the review period.
Other relatively new entrants like Dufrance (Dufrance Co) and Bachelors (Unilever Foods) tried to compete against Maggi or Knorr. However, they failed to make any real impact because of customer loyalty and because of lower product quality from Dufrance and higher unit prices from Bachelors, which retails at three times the price of Maggi. This was coupled with ineffective distribution and lack of advertising.
For the same reason, UHT soup failed to achieve any appeal to Saudi or expatriate consumers. Al Rabie Saudi Dairy Co Ltd was the first company to introduce this soup format during 2000. The range consisted of six flavours: American, lentil, Mexican, oat, chicken and vegetables, targeting mainly unmarried Western and Arab expatriates living in Saudi Arabia. Despite the company’s support, the range did not achieve good sales since its launch (only SR0.9 million in 2000) and as a result Al Rabie decided to withdraw the product in the latter part of 2001.
According to a company source, the failure stemmed from Western expatriates not choosing local brands while supermar-kets/hypermarkets stock global brands like Campbell’s, Heinz or El Rio. Meanwhile, Arab expatriates commonly follow family traditions and dehydrated soup is the most preferred or sole type of soup available in all Arab countries.
Unlike dehydrated soup, canned soup is considered a niche product with expected value sales of only SR6.1 million in 2003. These products are unpopular and consumed mainly by high-income European and American expatriates. Canned soup is distributed only among large supermarkets, hypermarkets and department stores and is relatively expensive in comparison to other formats of soups such as dehydrated soup (four servings for SR3).
However, and despite the withdrawal of some brands like Baxter’s and Healthy Valley, canned soup witnessed a notable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 28% in current value terms over the review period (albeit from a low base). This is due to the introduction of several new variants of the leading brand Campbell’s.
Baxter’s, manufactured by Baxter & Sons Ltd of Britain, was available with several variants. However, due to the ban on the importation of dairy-containing products from Britain many variants of Baxter’s containing cream were withdrawn and became unavailable on the shelves during 2000 and 2001.
Similarly, Mohammed Al Guthmi & Sons Co, which introduced the Healthy Valley products in 2000, decided in mid-2001 to stop dealing with the company because of poor sales and the company’s requirements to order larger quantities of its products.
In the Middle East, soup is not normally an appetizer but a meal. “In the Mediterranean, a robust soup is often the whole meal,” wrote Joyce Goldstein in Mediter-ranean the Beautiful Cookbook. “Rather than serving a broth or simple purée, the thrifty Mediterranean cook adds beans, rice, pasta, bread, meat or fish to the pot, making the soup a filling and nourishing repast. Such a practice offers a more practical way to eat as well: It is more healthful to eat a large lunch that one can burn up and digest during the day and then enjoy a soup for supper.”
Legumes and grains are important elements in Middle Eastern soup. Garbanzo beans or chickpeas, lentils, fava beans and split peas can be found simmering over many fires. This is practical, as beans and grains are easily transportable across naturally hostile terrain.
When meat is used, it's often lamb and, sometimes, beef. Fresh vegetables - whatever is in season - are used, too. And, of course, spices and herbs that put Middle Eastern food on the culinary map add depth to seemingly simple ingredients. Many Middle East soups will intertwine the stupefying flavours of freshly ground cumin, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, ground red peppers, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric and saffron.
Harira is an excellent and delicious example of Middle Eastern soup. This is the national soup of Morocco and is made especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Harira mixes lentils, lamb, onions and garlic with cinnamon and ginger, a tasty combination prevalent in Moroccan dishes. Harira has many versions and can serve vegetarians as well as meat-eaters. In Morocco, it is served at sunset each day of Ramadan to break the fast.
Soup in Saudi Arabia
Soup, which is represented largely by dehydrated soup, is an established and very popular product in Saudi Arabia. In 2003, sales are expected to exceed SR252 million, up more than 31% on 1998 and 5.7% on 2002 in current value terms. Volume sales grew also healthily almost at the same rate over the review period, reflecting the stability in unit prices of these products, particularly dehydrated soup.
Dehydrated soup continues to be the most popular and traditional type of soup, set to account for an impressive 98% of total value sales in 2003. The leading brands, Maggi (owned by Nestlé) and Knorr (owned by Unilever) are manufactured by long-standing joint ventures between local producers and multinational brand owners. The length of time these products have been available, their wide variety of flavours and strong advertising support were the major reasons for the sustained healthy volume and value growth demonstrated over the review period.
Other relatively new entrants like Dufrance (Dufrance Co) and Bachelors (Unilever Foods) tried to compete against Maggi or Knorr. However, they failed to make any real impact because of customer loyalty and because of lower product quality from Dufrance and higher unit prices from Bachelors, which retails at three times the price of Maggi. This was coupled with ineffective distribution and lack of advertising.
UHT soup makes no impression
For the same reason, UHT soup failed to achieve any appeal to Saudi or expatriate consumers. Al Rabie Saudi Dairy Co Ltd was the first company to introduce this soup format during 2000. The range consisted of six flavours: American, lentil, Mexican, oat, chicken and vegetables, targeting mainly unmarried Western and Arab expatriates living in Saudi Arabia. Despite the company’s support, the range did not achieve good sales since its launch (only SR0.9 million in 2000) and as a result Al Rabie decided to withdraw the product in the latter part of 2001.
According to a company source, the failure stemmed from Western expatriates not choosing local brands while supermar-kets/hypermarkets stock global brands like Campbell’s, Heinz or El Rio. Meanwhile, Arab expatriates commonly follow family traditions and dehydrated soup is the most preferred or sole type of soup available in all Arab countries.
Western expatriates keep canned soup alive
Unlike dehydrated soup, canned soup is considered a niche product with expected value sales of only SR6.1 million in 2003. These products are unpopular and consumed mainly by high-income European and American expatriates. Canned soup is distributed only among large supermarkets, hypermarkets and department stores and is relatively expensive in comparison to other formats of soups such as dehydrated soup (four servings for SR3).
However, and despite the withdrawal of some brands like Baxter’s and Healthy Valley, canned soup witnessed a notable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 28% in current value terms over the review period (albeit from a low base). This is due to the introduction of several new variants of the leading brand Campbell’s.
Baxter’s, manufactured by Baxter & Sons Ltd of Britain, was available with several variants. However, due to the ban on the importation of dairy-containing products from Britain many variants of Baxter’s containing cream were withdrawn and became unavailable on the shelves during 2000 and 2001.
Similarly, Mohammed Al Guthmi & Sons Co, which introduced the Healthy Valley products in 2000, decided in mid-2001 to stop dealing with the company because of poor sales and the company’s requirements to order larger quantities of its products.
