PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION REFERENCES

People are passionate about their soup preference: Fifty-five percent like it prepared with water, and 45 percent opt for milk. The Ready To Serve soups offer it both ways-classic and creamy. Both the Tomato and Creamy Tomato varieties feature the same classic taste as Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup, while providing a meal in less than two minutes.

Campbell's Tomato Soup dates back to 1897, when Dr. John T. Dorrance invented condensed soup. A revolutionary new form of soup, it dramatically changed American eating habits with its rich taste and convenience for Mom, who no longer had to make soup from scratch. Today, Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup is the third-best-selling item in grocery stores throughout the United States, not only as an easy soup solution, but also as an ingredient in casseroles and stews.

And Campbell continues to innovate to keep up with lifestyles in the new millennium. As consumers look for more and more convenience, they're finding that adding water or milk to condensed soup, stirring it in a pan and pouring it into a bowl has become too much of an effort. Created and packaged for convenience, Campbell's new Ready to Service Tomato soups are available in 32-ounce recloseable plastic containers that feature screw-tops (red for tomato and gold for creamy tomato) and an easy-to-grasp molded hand-grip to make pouring effortless.

"We are very excited about our new tomato soups, especially the conveneience tht they offer consumers as a nutritious snack alternative at home, in the office, or on the run," says Margo Lowry, vice president, new business development. "Ready To Serve Tomato Soups literally take us to a new place in the kitchen - the refrigerator."

Nutrition is the other hot button for consumers. And research shows that processed tomato products are an excellent source of lycopene, a phytochemical that gives tomatoes a red color and is believed to lower the risk of some types of cancer. In fact, leading authorties recommend five to seven servings a week. A one-cup serving of Campbell's Tomato Soup contains 13 milligrams of lycopene (more than three times the amount in a medium-size fresh tomato), 10 percent of the Daily Value of antioxidant vitamins A and C, and less than two grams of fat. Campbell will be extending the varieties of its Ready To Serve soups next year and will be adding a line of microwaveable Soup-To-Go.

Suggested retail price is $2.49. And we all know that Campbell's soup is "Good for the body, good for the soul."