Whole Vegetables, Whole Nutrition: Why "Concentrates" are a NO-GO!

Flip over most "veggie-packed" products in the refrigerated aisle and you'll find the same small-print confession: vegetable juice concentrate. It sounds like vegetables. It's marketed like vegetables. But the process that turns a whole carrot or tomato into a shelf-stable concentrate strips away the fiber, degrades the vitamins, and leaves behind something that bears little resemblance to what grew in the ground.

This matters because the food industry has gotten very good at making concentrates sound like nutrition. Whole vegetables are not the same as vegetable juice concentrate, and the difference is worth knowing before you trust a label.

What Are Concentrated Vegetable Juices

Concentrated vegetable juices are made by removing most of the water content from the vegetables, leaving behind a thick, syrupy substance. This concentrate is then often reconstituted with water when used in food. While this process might seem harmless, it has significant downsides.

Nutrient Loss

Vegetables are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are important for maintaining optimal health. However, the process of concentrating these juices often involves heating them to high temperatures, which can destroy many of these delicate nutrients. What's left is a substance that lacks the full spectrum of health benefits that the original whole vegetable provided.

Bye Bye Fiber

One of the key benefits of consuming vegetables is their high fiber content. Fiber is essential for digestive health, helps regulate blood sugar levels, and can even aid in weight management. Unfortunately, the process of making concentrated juices removes most, if not all, of the fiber. This leaves you with a product that may taste like vegetables but lacks the fiber that makes them so beneficial! Why, concentrates, why??!!

Why Do Companies Use Concentrates

Seriously! Why??!! Why would a company use this process if it strips the veggies of their nutrients and fiber? In short, it's cheaper! Big industrial food companies are always looking for shortcuts, often at the expense of health. Despite all this, companies using concentrates are still able to make appealing claims about their products being made with "real" vegetables and having multiple servings of veggies, even though most of the nutrients are long gone. These additives to the ingredient list often go unnoticed by shoppers who assume that fruit vegetable juice and whole produce are nutritionally equivalent. They are not.

Our Approach: Whole Vegetables, Whole Nutrition

At Soupergirl, we do things differently. You will NEVER find concentrated vegetable juice in our gazpachos. Instead, we use whole, real vegetables to ensure that you're getting all the nutrients, fiber, and flavor possible. Our soups are crafted to provide you with the full benefits of fresh, wholesome ingredients, without any shortcuts. Period!

So, the next time you reach for a product that claims to be packed with vegetables, take a closer look at the ingredients. If it contains concentrated vegetable juices, it's not as healthy as it seems. Choose products that prioritize whole ingredients and deliver the full spectrum of nutrition that your body needs.

Meet Soupermom

Marilyn Polon (Soupermom), Co-Founder and CAO (chief anxiety officer) has been worried about Soupergirl since the company launched in 2008. Actually, even before that. Her career has also been random and fascinating. After twenty years as a speech therapist, Soupermom changed careers and became a volunteer coordinator. She then had a wonderful stint as a docent at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. She was then dragged out of retirement by her daughter who insisted that they start a soup company. Could that be any more random?

All of the company's recipes come from Soupermom's kitchen. Honestly, she's a testament to the power of healthy eating. Her hobbies include really long hikes, walking, doting on her granddaughters, and coming up with new recipes for Soupergirl. She is also a guru of all things health related but gets the words to every single song she sings incorrect. All of them. Loudly. Lastly, her laugh is contagious.

Real Vegetables, No Apologies

The food industry loves a shortcut. Concentrates are cheaper to ship, easier to store, and simple to hide inside an ingredient list that still says "made with real vegetables." That's not deception by accident. It's a business model built on the assumption that most people won't read the fine print.

Soupergirl was built to make that kind of compromise unnecessary. Every gazpacho, every soup, every product we make starts with whole fresh vegetables, cooked from scratch in small batches with no preservatives and no filler. The quality you taste is the quality that's actually there. No shortcuts. No concentrates. Just food that earns the label it wears.

When you're ready for the real thing, explore our fresh soups and gazpachos.