soup to sell

[Charlies mum]

Hello everybody, I hope you can advise me …. I want to run a café specialising in soups. First question is - would this attract enough customers, or is it too niche? I have thought about other options eg mobile catering van, pop up, market stall etc but I am not certain there is a market for "on the hoof" soup. I have considered doing a gourmet box service, but sending liquids by post or courier is difficult and expensive plus I would need good temperature control for food safety reasons. For financial reasons I need to keep my current 9-5 job, so can only do this Friday - Sunday. So the second question is - am I being unrealistic and naïve?

 

[Mr D]

Hello everybody, I hope you can advise me …. I want to run a café specialising in soups. First question is - would this attract enough customers, or is it too niche? I have thought about other options eg mobile catering van, pop up, market stall etc but I am not certain there is a market for "on the hoof" soup. I have considered doing a gourmet box service, but sending liquids by post or courier is difficult and expensive plus I would need good temperature control for food safety reasons. For financial reasons I need to keep my current 9-5 job, so can only do this Friday - Sunday. So the second question is - am I being unrealistic and naïve?

Try it first - do some weekend events (fairs, tabletop etc) with your soups. Pop up catering.

A café specialising in soups would be nice - I like a good soup and lots of places just have one soup per day.
Don't just concentrate on soup. Sure, make it a speciality, make it so you draw in a crowd.
Give them more than soup though. Light snacks. Hot and cold drinks. Salads.
Look at other speciality providers - pizza shops don't just do pizza. Curry houses that do more than a curry.
Figure out what else can be provided.

 

[Charlies mum]

Try it first - do some weekend events (fairs, tabletop etc) with your soups. Pop up catering.

A café specialising in soups would be nice - I like a good soup and lots of places just have one soup per day.
Don't just concentrate on soup. Sure, make it a speciality, make it so you draw in a crowd.
Give them more than soup though. Light snacks. Hot and cold drinks. Salads.
Look at other speciality providers - pizza shops don't just do pizza. Curry houses that do more than a curry.
Figure out what else can be provided.

thank you.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Where are you based? Do you have transport?

Your options are quite varied depending on the above answers.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Would a market stall on Saturdays be a good place to start with, you could offer a selection of soups and maybe also hot chocolate all in disposable cups or mugs, great when walking around the market

 

[obscure]

I would certainly test out first with markets, pop ups etc before tying yourself to a property lease.

 

[Clinton]

Would a market stall on Saturdays be a good place to start ...

Market organisers limit the number of food stalls they allow. At any good market all the food stalls will likely be taken. The only way to get in is to buy someone out. I remember one pitch at Wembley market that sold for £20K ... and that was back in the mid nineties!

 

[ecommerce84]

As Clinton says, many markets are likely at capacity for most food, and a wait for a pitch is long.

We deal with 3 market operators and 2 of them have their own catering outlets (branded so as you wouldn’t necessarily know they were being run by the operators). Always in the prime spot. Even on a wet day the food stalls usually do well at markets.

That said, there are a couple that spring to mind that we trade at that don’t limit the number of stalls, but do only have 1 of each ‘niche’ allowed (Chinese, Indian, pizza etc), and soup isn’t currently offered.

My only concern with offering soup is that a lot of people perceive it as ‘cold weather food’. In our cafe I barely sold any last week and it was all about the salads - in fact I ate more soup than I sold. We won’t even offer a soup of the day through the summer. This week sales have been good again as the weather has been cold and wet.

Also if you do decide to go ahead with it, arrange an appointment with your local environmental health officer. If you are trading from a market stall, I assume you will be making it from home? They will have to inspect your kitchen and ensure your food handling, preparation, cooking, reheating, hot holding etc methods are safe. Most EHO’s will come for a ‘pre launch’ visit to offer advice and let you know what changes you’d have to make to your kitchen among other things.

 

[Charlies mum]

Where are you based? Do you have transport?

Your options are quite varied depending on the above answers.

thank you, I am based in mid Dorset, nearest towns are 10 miles away, and I am fortunate enough to have transport.

I would certainly test out first with markets, pop ups etc before tying yourself to a property lease.

thank you, that's good advice

 

[Socio South West]

Agreeing with others about existing market pitches: you may find them hard to come by.

Your questions go hand in hand: In a fixed, regular situation your offerings should be wider than soup where possible. On the other hand, a pop-up outlet in a good location could do quite well with hearty soups... although soup is never the easiest takeaway meal

Forget sending soup... just don't even go there! Sending solid food is bad enough... but liquid????

Next... Look at yourself in the mirror - You have a 5 day a week job... do you really want to sacrifice your leisure time at weekends to do this? Are you going to earn enough to make it worth your while?
I liken this to my experience of the photographic trade where 'weekend warriors' arrive on the scene full of great promises and cheap prices because they don't really need to earn from their weekend activities... a couple of years down the line the camera packs up... the computer needs replacing.... and they haven't had a weekend off in three years, and don't have the money to replace or service the gear. There are many who have trodden this path.
Think carefully before you commit....

And having seen you are just up the road from me... remember your transport and travel costs have to be met as well. Life in the rural areas is so much better than in cities - but it does have a payback!

 

[Mr D]

Market organisers limit the number of food stalls they allow. At any good market all the food stalls will likely be taken. The only way to get in is to buy someone out. I remember one pitch at Wembley market that sold for £20K ... and that was back in the mid nineties!

True, established markets may indeed have limits on food stalls.
Local events will also have limits but may well have less of a problem with a soup stall. Stallfinder website may well have local events you can try at.
If nothing else, a stall allows refining of procedures and product without killing off all your trade.

 

[Charlies mum]

Agreeing with others about existing market pitches: you may find them hard to come by.

Your questions go hand in hand: In a fixed, regular situation your offerings should be wider than soup where possible. On the other hand, a pop-up outlet in a good location could do quite well with hearty soups... although soup is never the easiest takeaway meal

Forget sending soup... just don't even go there! Sending solid food is bad enough... but liquid????

Next... Look at yourself in the mirror - You have a 5 day a week job... do you really want to sacrifice your leisure time at weekends to do this? Are you going to earn enough to make it worth your while?
I liken this to my experience of the photographic trade where 'weekend warriors' arrive on the scene full of great promises and cheap prices because they don't really need to earn from their weekend activities... a couple of years down the line the camera packs up... the computer needs replacing.... and they haven't had a weekend off in three years, and don't have the money to replace or service the gear. There are many who have trodden this path.
Think carefully before you commit....

And having seen you are just up the road from me... remember your transport and travel costs have to be met as well. Life in the rural areas is so much better than in cities - but it does have a payback!

thank you for your comments, much appreciated

 

[billmccallum1957]

thank you, I am based in mid Dorset, nearest towns are 10 miles away, and I am fortunate enough to have transport.


thank you, that's good advice

You are in a fairly good area for a high quality product offer, Bridport, Axminster, Lyme Regis, Dorchester and Weymouth all offer quite high value clientele.... take a look at what hugh fearnley whittingstall has on offer at his River Cottage site and Axminster Kitchen for some ideas of what pricing could look like.

There are usually a good range of food festivals around the region, Lyme Regis has one in September that was started by Mark Hix (who has a restaurant on the seafront).

There's a good resource here https://www.dorsetfoodanddrink.org/events/

 

[Charlies mum]

You are in a fairly good area for a high quality product offer, Bridport, Axminster, Lyme Regis, Dorchester and Weymouth all offer quite high value clientele.... take a look at what hugh fearnley whittingstall has on offer at his River Cottage site and Axminster Kitchen for some ideas of what pricing could look like.

There are usually a good range of food festivals around the region, Lyme Regis has one in September that was started by Mark Hix (who has a restaurant on the seafront).


thank you so much

 

[Flankaaa]

I think that you can develop solid business including only soups. But try to make variety of soups for various customer groups. Try to include some products for vegetarian and vegan customers, French onion soup is also quite popular but cannot be found frequently in offer

 

[Ian J]

My only concern with offering soup is that a lot of people perceive it as ‘cold weather food’. In our cafe I barely sold any last week and it was all about the salads - in fact I ate more soup than I sold. We won’t even offer a soup of the day through the summer.

What a shame as I love gazpacho and other cold soups

 

[Mr D]

What a shame as I love gazpacho and other cold soups

I do a lovely chilled strawberry soup. Great for a hot summer day.

 

[Jessica A.]

Yes, I agree with most of the people who wrote a comment. Test this out. There is nothing better than having a dry run to see which is working and which isn't. Though I don't think sending liquids by post is a good idea. It is food we're talking about. Also, specialize in soup first to build your name and then diversify to gather more customers and keep the loyal ones.

 

[Mr D]

Yes, I agree with most of the people who wrote a comment. Test this out. There is nothing better than having a dry run to see which is working and which isn't. Though I don't think sending liquids by post is a good idea. It is food we're talking about. Also, specialize in soup first to build your name and then diversify to gather more customers and keep the loyal ones.

Soups by post could be done but realistically not ideal for a startup.
A few years down the road - maybe.

 

[The Byre]

Actually, you posted three questions and the answers are - No. Yes. Yes.

And the idea of sending soup by post is possibly as mad as it gets!

The following advice was, I thought, rather good -

Next... Look at yourself in the mirror - You have a 5 day a week job... do you really want to sacrifice your leisure time at weekends to do this? Are you going to earn enough to make it worth your while?

 

[Chloe_BumbleandBloom]

My initial reaction would be that your biggest customer demographic (whether in a pop up or property) is people in offices who are popping out looking for something quick, nutritious and delicious. If you work 9-5, you'll be missing this market.

Perhaps you could focus on hiring someone else to test that part of the market for you? You do the brand building and planning on the weekend, hire a mate or family member to trial it for you during the week. My gut instinct though is for you to be on the frontline as the business owner to receive the feedback and see the logistics through.

Weekend-wise, a pop up cart or stall in local beauty spots or high traffic areas could be good footfall but I imagine a lot of your customers might be tourists or people coming for a weekend wander once in a while.

I highly recommend reading the book "It seemed like a good idea at the time - 10 years of misaventures in coffee" by Annabel Townsend.

 

[Herbs]

You are just around the corner from me

As a full time job it is probably a non starter (sorry if that sounds harsh!)

However, if you want to really make a go out of it then you need to come out with something different to the norm.

A van could well be the answer - as we are in the middle of nowhere we have a Fish & Chip van and a curry van that go to a different village every day on a 2 week rota. the food is exceptional and they are always extremely busy - in fact I was speaking to one gentleman who told me he comes every week (20 miles each way) to get his food!

The other option is to consider selling your soups to pubs/ local produce shops etc (frozen ideally) or even possibly target yourself at the elderly or infirm - like a gourmet meals on wheels.

In business, going unique in an already tough/niche market means that it is very difficult to get traction and make it profitable - but it you can, you can make a really good earning out of it or a fantastic work/life balance depending on what you want from it.

please keep us updated.

 

[Mr D]

Actually, you posted three questions and the answers are - No. Yes. Yes.

And the idea of sending soup by post is possibly as mad as it gets!

The following advice was, I thought, rather good -

As mad as sending flowers by post, sending live fish by post, sending live bees by post, sending meat by post, sending bottles of wine by post etc.
All of which are done.