Few would argue against the idea that grocers are in the midst of a pretty substantial existential crisis.
As the industry continues to grapple with the implications of the Whole Foods-Amazon merger, rumors abound that Kroger and Target are flirting with a marriage of their own while a majority of big grocers have rushed to ink partnerships with Instacart. E-commerce is unlikely to go away anytime soon, so grocers are wise to invest in that area. But for food retailers looking for deeper insight on how to build better consumer resonance, an answer lies in an unlikely place: an announcement from Panera Bread about how well its grocery-store soups sold in 2017.
Panera announced Thursday that its line of refrigerated soups surpassed the $100 million sales milestone in 2017, a 27% increase over the prior year that qualifies the fast-casual giant as one of the heavy hitters in the refrigerated soup space.
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