Can cans become cool again?

It’s doubtful Andy Warhol would have found inspiration in a pouch of soup. But alternative packaging is finding favour with consumers and CPGs in categories long dominated by the iconic tin can.

Last year, Campbell launched Go Soups, a line of six soups in plastic pouches targeted at millennials. The line features unconventional packaging design and bold flavours including Spicy Chorizo.

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General Mills also moved away from cans with its “artisan” Progresso soups in Tetra Pak cartons. The line comes in flavours such as Masala Curry Butternut Squash. The shift isn’t just happening in soup: ConAgra’s giant Hunt’s brand now offers tomato sauce in a resealable, one-litre, Tetra Brik aseptic carton.

Why are more manufacturers kicking the can? Saving money is the first reason: pouches and cartons can be more economical, says Xavier Terlet, CEO of Paris-based food-industry consultancy XTC. Likewise, pouches tend to be more ecological. And besides, adds Terlet, they look new and convenient.

Canned goods, which have been around for well over a century, also have an image problem. Consumers are shifting toward fresh foods, and canned veggies and fruit just aren’t perceived as being fresh. Moreover, the coveted millennial demographic tends to shun the old-fashioned tins.

“Millennials are embracing carton packaging because it stands out on the shelf and it creates a ‘billboard’ effect that’s great for graphic images, colours and large print that pops off the shelf,” says Suley Muratoglu, VP of marketing and product management at Tetra Pak.

Little Canadian data is available, but SymphonyIRI Group Market Advantage says soups in cartons are helping reverse a marked 10-year decline in soup purchases by U.S. consumers 25 and under.

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Volume sales for soups in cartons are up 22% since 2009, with dollar sales up 14%. SymphonyIRI says “consumers perceive products in cartons to be fresher, more natural and better tasting.”

To dispel some of the notions about canned foods, the Washington-based Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) launched a big PR push last year.

Its “Cans Get You Cooking” campaign included segments on ABC’s daytime food talk show The Chew. One segment showed peaches being picked at the peak of ripeness and canned within hours.

According to a CMI-backed study by Artemis Strategy Group, 86% of consumers surveyed included canned foods in meals weekly, and 66% categorized canned foods as having an important role in the meal.

“We walked in knowing that consumers feel confident with cans,” says Sherrie Rosenblatt, VP of marketing at CMI. “What they wanted to do was feel less guilty because there’s a strong emphasis toward fresh produce.”

Better design may lead to a tin comeback. David Turner, co-founder of brand design agency Turner Duckworth, calls the canned-goods category “stale,” with little to no innovation.

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“You see a formulaic approach,” he says. In the U.K., Turner Duckworth has designed packaging for Waitrose’s private-label brand. Canned-goods labels have simple, stylish shots of beans, celery hearts or spaghetti hoops (photo at top).

“Waitrose is about the quality and simplicity of their ingredients. And because it’s a private label, it doesn’t have to have a giant brand logo covering half the pack,” he says.

Turner agrees the shift toward other packaging reflects a move toward fresher foods. “There’s no reason for canned goods not to claim that space,” he says, citing a reason why canned goods can actually be fresher than an actual fresh product. “Because it’s often canned right at the source.”