Few recipes are as classic as Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, which turned 81 years old last January. But as the iconic variety nears its 82nd birthday, Campbell Soup is reportedly unveiling a new recipe—with 10 fewer ingredients than its predecessor.
The revamped soup, which hits grocery store shelves in the form of a limited-edition, Star Wars-themed run, is “closing the gap between the kitchen and our plants,” Campbell (CPB) CEO Denise Morrison told the New York Times. Ingredients including disodium insosinate, monosodium glutamate, and maltodextrin have been cut to make room for dehydrated chicken broth and dehydrated onions.
The change comes first to the Star Wars soup and another children’s variety. Campbell Soup spokesman Tom Hushen says that the lessons from the rollout will be applied to other recipes, including the classic Condensed Chicken Noodle soup. “We are on a journey to transform the recipes of our products,” he said in an email. “It will take time and we are taking great care to ensure we retain the taste people love.”
The changes come as Campbell struggles to adapt to changing consumer preferences. “There are 80 million millennials now, and they’re shopping and thinking differently about food and in a way that is influential,” Morrison told the Times.
To expand its portfolio into fresh food that is sold at the increasingly popular perimeter of grocery stores, Campbell has bought juice and salad dressing maker Bolthouse Farms, Plum Organics, and Garden Fresh Gourmet.
Next up? The New York Times reports that Campbell is playing with its classic tomato soup recipe to eliminate corn syrup.
Clarification: This article has been updated to make clear that Campbell Soup is making changes to its recipes specifically for two children’s varieties and not yet for its Condensed Chicken Noodle soup.