New Year, New Bella!

[#1]

How are those New Year’s resolutions going? I bet one had something to do with eating better, am I right? You may have started off with the best intentions, and then somewhere in between rushing to your kid’s dance practice and taking your dog to the vet you found yourself grabbing something quick and easy and not-that-great from a vending machine just to keep from going hungry – true?

My tendency to break New Year’s resolutions is the reason I no longer make them – I just re-commit to constant improvement instead. The same goes for the products I work on with our Brands team. We always re-visit them with ongoing tasting and reviewing to make sure we’re getting them right. One recent occasion was with Signature Cafe ™ Bella Minestrone soup in the deli.  After some review we thought Bella (which means ‘beautiful’ in Italian) could use a little recipe makeover. We gave it heartier chunks of veggies (like zucchini and cauliflower), changed the flavor of the tomato base, and added some fennel and Great Northern Beans.  A 1 cup serving has only:  
      
And the VERY best part? There’s no preparation – just heat, eat and enjoy.  So now when your day is packed, you can actually have something better-for-you AND stick to those resolutions.  

Find Signature Cafe ™ Bella Minestrone in the deli, and let us know what you think of our new recipe.

[#2]

I love the Bella Minestrone, but I have always thought that it needed a makeover. To start - it is called Bella Minestrone, but at best you got maybe three pieces of mushroom in every container, not even a whole mushroom slice. I am not a fan of kidney beans, so I always wished that they were omitted, but that was just a personal taste wish. I have a horrible cold right now and went to Safeway to get soup to feel better and I saw the new recipe and I was very excited. I love the new tomato base, but this is where is ends for me. Some of the veggies are WAY over cooked and some are WAY under cooked. Also, I found only two little bits of mushroom in the entire container and no great northern beans. I don't usually post comments, but I am disappointed and just wanted to let you know my thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to read them.

[#3]

Why don't you have Butternut Squash soup available more often?  I first tasted it about a month ago and now I'm hooked!  I tried some of the boxed or canned stuff & it didn't even come close.

[#4]

Hello Lu,

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having trouble finding our Butternut Squash soup at your local store. You can try making a request for that item to become available at your local Safeway deli here: http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Product-Suggestions#iframetop

I hope that helps.

~Veronica. 

[#5]

Thanks for feedback regarding our Bella Minestrone soup, Deliverance. We'll be sure to pass along your feedback to our Corporate Brands department for review!