Why Campbell's Discontinued Its Fan-Favorite Green Pea Soup

Campbell's is mainly known for its canned soups. While the brand has diversified its offerings over the years by introducing sauces, snacks, beverages, prepared meals, and its latest venture, a line of flavor concentrates, there's no denying that most people instantly think of its soups the moment they hear the name. That's because the demand for Campbell's soups has been consistently high, especially during economic turmoil. In fact, a supposedly limited-time offering, Campbell's Ghost Pepper Soup, became a permanent addition to its fixed lineup just a few months after launching in early 2023. Given this, the idea of a Campbell's soup flavor getting scrapped seems outlandish. That is, until you hear about the fate of Campbell's Condensed Green Pea Soup, which was quietly discontinued by the brand.

Sometime in 2019, Campbell's Green Pea Soup started vanishing from store shelves, prompting avid customers to look for answers online as to what had happened to the purportedly fan-favorite flavor. In June that same year, the brand officially broke its silence by responding to one customer inquiry on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "Unfortunately, our Condensed Green Pea Soup has been discontinued and is no longer available to our fans." However, since the company did not disclose its reason for doing so, some fans assumed on social media that it was likely not selling well compared to other soup flavors.

For fans of Campbell's Condensed Green Pea Soup, its discontinuation might have been a total bummer. While good on its own, the soup was also a spectacular base for various dishes. One fan even lamented on Reddit that they were no longer able to pull off their favorite lobster bisque recipe, since they couldn't find anything that could replicate the scrapped soup's signature taste. Campbell's, for its part, suggested an alternative when it confirmed the termination of the green pea soup's production — the Habitant French Canadian Pea Soup. Compared to the discontinued soup, however, Habitant's traditional recipe isn't vegetarian. The original version uses pork lard, while another version contains smoked ham. Hence, this is not the best alternative for vegetarian consumers.

Campbell's also has the Split Pea With Ham and Bacon Soup, which, again, isn't an option for vegans and vegetarians. Plus, its flavor profile is nowhere near that of the Condensed Green Pea Soup's, due to all the ham and smoky bacon bits. Considering that there really isn't a commercially available product that resembles the terminated flavor, some fans have just settled for making their own version using dried peas and other basic ingredients, including salt, sugar, and heavy cream. Others have instead turned to the Food Network's simple green pea soup recipe, which uses frozen green peas instead of fresh ones.