Campbell Soup Co. Has Eye on Exploiting Microwave Oven

CAMDEN, N.J. — Campbell Soup Co. is convinced that the microwave oven will revolutionize life styles like the advent of television did three decades ago.

So it has created a research group with a simple mandate: Make each of Campbell’s food products ready for microwave cooking within two years.

Executives hope that the Campbell Microwave Institute will make Campbell a leader in microwave food products and consumer information.

Phyllis Levy, executive director of the research group, said it will also study ways to redesign food products and packages to better meet the needs of the microwave generation.

“Cooking habits are changing. When’s the last time that happened?” Levy said. “What we’re trying to do is coordinate them in a corporate sense.

“It’s a big opportunity for innovative food products. Food is food. It’s hard to come up with new products.”

Many With Instructions Now

Sixty percent of the company’s 650 products already have microwave directions on their packages, she continued.

Fifty-five percent of all American homes have a microwave, according to a recent Campbell research study. Levy said she expected that number to now be approaching 60%.

Already, there are more microwaves in homes than there are toaster ovens, videocassette recorders, personal computers or cable television hook-ups, the Campbell study said.

So company executives created the research group to explore the cooking trends of the future.

One project that the 14-member staff is studying is how to make a bread-crumb coating for frozen fish and chicken dishes that will stay crispy once microwaved. “That would be dynamite,” Levy said.

“The microwave is a different type of energy system. It’s more akin to a steamer, sort of a wet heating system,” which does not always lend itself to crispy cooking.

Food packaging is also being studied and adapted for better microwave use.