Bobby Ghosh, Columnist

The FTC Is Wasting Its Time on Pasta Sauces

Campbell’s potential purchase of Sovos isn’t a threat to consumers when all bottled options are substandard.

February 24, 2024 at 1:00 PM UTC

Bobby Ghosh is a senior editor in the digital weekend team. Previously, he was a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, where he wrote mostly about international affairs and culture.

Keep walking till you get to the produce aisle.
Bobby Ghosh/ Bloomberg

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Should it really take the Federal Trade Commission seven months to decide whether to approve Campbell Soup Co.’s proposed $2.7 billion acquisition of Sovos Brands Inc? The FTC has been ruminating on this since last August, when the deal was announced, and is expected to announce its decision in March.

The issue, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, is whether Campbell’s Prego brand of sauces overlaps with Rao’s Homemade, owned by Sovos. Campbell has an 18.7% share of the $2.5 billion US pasta sauce market, and Sovos has 17.8%. Together, they would outstrip the current market leader Mizkan, which owns the Ragu and Bertolli brands and accounts for 22.9%.