• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer, November 7, 2025

Four years in, “Sides Season” isn’t a novelty—it’s a signal. Campbell’s uses its annual "State of the Sides" study to tune channel mix, tighten influencer choices, and separate retail media from retail data as holiday journeys diverge from everyday behavior.

This year’s release lands as many households face food insecurity and SNAP disruptions—conditions that will inevitably shape how brands talk about value and comfort food. Marci Raible, vice president of media strategy and digital growth, explains what shifted in 2025 and what she’ll be tracking in January.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CPG Insider: Why keep doing this study every year? What does it teach you that you can’t get elsewhere?

Marci Raible: Campbell's has been a part of holidays for as long as most people can remember. Who’s better to talk about what's happening with holiday meals than the people behind the green bean casserole? What inspired us to start this, four years ago, was the realization that to many people, side dishes matter more than turkey. That continues to be true, and this seems like a natural place for Campbell’s to be.

CPG Insider: What’s changed in this year’s read? Anything surprising in the data?

Raible: We do find changes—the world changes every year. For us, the consistent finding is that people love sides. This year, 63% say they prefer them to turkey, up from 56% last year. And 47% say they’d be perfectly happy with sides and nothing else, up from 38% in 2024. Yes, there’s a lot of the usual suspects. But there’s movement, and that’s interesting to us, and to consumers.

CPG Insider: How do those insights show up in your planning: channels, timing, creative?

Raible: Starting last year, we started working with influencers on this, bringing the message to life with people who are authentic to our brand. And retail media is growing as part of the equation.

CPG Insider: You’ve drawn a line between retail media and retail data. What does that distinction unlock for you?

Raible: We are talking to our teams all the time about the difference between retail media versus retail data. To me, that delineation is key: How am I using retail data across the media landscape? That allows media plans to come together as we think about full-funnel audience strategies, and the tactics we pull in as a result.

And as retail media networks mature, that differentiation really helps us. We’re seeing Walmart and Kroger, for example, partnering with other media companies, and looking at how they use their data. And Amazon, which has been at this a while, has been doing this really well. It makes a big difference in the way you market your brands. We’re looking at that all the time, not just in November and December.

CPG Insider: Beyond sales, what are the metrics that matter most to you coming out of the holidays?

Raible: We watch how people come into the brand at holiday—and then, how do we actually build on that and move from holiday into every day?

CPG Insider: Value feels like a bigger issue than ever. How is that showing up for Campbell’s?

Raible: Value has always been a part of Campbell's offering. We’re accessible, and that value story will continue to be a part of how we go to market. We monitor social conversations quite closely, and value is clearly on people's minds.

CPG Insider: What’s standing out generationally or regionally this year?

Raible: Sides are the great equalizer. They unite people. The Top Five—stuffing or dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese and green bean casserole—stay pretty consistent.

CPG Insider: The green bean casserole turns 70 this year. How are you celebrating that milestone?

Raible: It’s the 70th anniversary! And 44% of respondents say it’s the most iconic side dish.

CPG Insider: Finally, tell me about the new Cynthia Rowley and Kit Keenan collab, a line of totes and accessories for carrying your dishes —what role does that play?

Raible: Yes, that’s a really fun aspect of it. And it helps us move the conversation past Thanksgiving sides into December gifting. It’s fashion meets function—you spend a lot of time over the holidays taking dishes from your house to somebody else's house. How you do that is part of who you are. These allow people to carry their sides in style.