Campbell Soup’s Goldfish cracker is optimistic that a temporary name change will attract more adults to the $1 billion brand popular with children.
The company is changing the 62-year-old cracker’s name to fish-themed Chilean Sea Bass, which the packaged food giant touts as a more adult-sounding moniker. More than half of Goldfish buyers are grownups and Gen Z adults are six times more likely than any other age group to purchase the snack, Campbell Soup noted, citing Euromonitor and Circana data.
“We know the love for Goldfish spans all ages,” Danielle Brown, Golfish’s vice President said in a statement. “Chilean Sea Bass is a playful nod to adults that the iconic fish-shaped snack is for grown-up tastes too.”
The limited-edition Chilean Sea Bass offering will only be sold online. Retailers will continue to sell crackers with the Goldfish name.
Campbell Soup has been using different textures, bolder flavors and limited-time offerings to create new Goldfish products geared toward adult shoppers.
In 2022, it launched Mega Bites, Goldfish crackers 50% larger than the original and available in flavors such as Sharp Cheddar and Jalapeno Cheddar. The brand later turned to limited-time Goldfish with the launch of Dunkin’ Pumpkin Spice Grahams and Frank’s RedHot crackers, the latter of which became a permanent fixture on store shelves in January.
Arguably its biggest innovation came last December when Campbell’s debuted potato chip-inspired crisps under the Goldfish banner. The puffy snack is the first Goldfish in the snack’s history made with potato.
Goldfish traces its roots to Pepperidge Farm founder Margaret Rudkin who launched Goldfish crackers in the U.S. in 1962 after discovering a similar snack while on vacation in Switzerland. It wasn’t until four years after the crackers debuted that the iconic cheddar cheese flavor was introduced.
Campbell Soup is no stranger to name changes. Last month, the 155-year-old New Jersey-based company said it would drop “soup” from its name as the manufacturer of chips, sauces, cookies and beverages aims to show that its future includes more than its signature dish. Shareholders will be asked to vote on the change in November.
