Panera has taken a beloved Mexican street food and turned it into a delicious new soup called Mexican Street Corn Chowder.
Perfect for the spring season, the new Mexican Street Corn Chowder will be replacing the brand's current Summer Corn Chowder. The new soup is meant to evoke the taste of elote street corn, but actually is a close match to the Summer Corn Chowder. The main difference is the addition of blue corn tortilla strips and an overall spicier flavor profile. More specifically, the soup is made up of sweet corn, fire-roasted poblano peppers, russet potatoes, chile powder, lime juice, and cilantro all topped with crunchy Blue Corn Tortilla Strips.
In addition to the new Mexican Street Corn Chowder, Panera is also bringing back its Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with Chicken for spring 2022.
Image Credit: Panera
What's Driving This Trend
- Mexican Street Food-inspired Soups
- The popularity of Mexican street food can inspire other brands to develop new soup varieties that pay tribute to beloved street food flavors.
- Spicy Flavor Profiles in Soups
- The success of Panera's spicier Mexican Street Corn Chowder can lead to more brands experimenting with bold and spicy soup flavors.
- Seasonal Soup Offerings
- The trend of seasonal soup offerings, like Panera's replacing its Summer Corn Chowder with the Mexican Street Corn Chowder, can encourage other brands to rotate their soup menus to keep up with changing consumer preferences.
Who This Affects Most
- Fast Casual Restaurant
- Other fast-casual restaurants can introduce more Mexican street food-inspired items to entice customers who are interested in trying new flavors and cuisines.
- Packaged Soup Brands
- Packaged soup brands can experiment with bolder and spicier flavor profiles to keep up with changing consumer preferences and compete with fresh soup offerings at restaurants.
- Soup Delivery Services
- Soup delivery services can capitalize on the trend of seasonal soup offerings by offering rotating menus that cater to changing consumer preferences throughout the year.
