Zoup! Is...
Concept and
History
WE’VE COOKED UP SOUP INTO A MEAL…AND A DYNAMIC RESTAURANT CONCEPT
The idea for Zoup! began to take shape at the same time the company’s founders were hard at work building their first soup-related food service business together.
That original company – which manufactured and distributed wholesale soup and spice products – gave the partners kitchen-door access to some of the top chefs and managers at hundreds of restaurants. And, it gave the two the chance to confirm what they suspected all along…that there was a strong demand in the marketplace for the kind of authentic, hand-crafted, fresh soups that customers love to eat, but seldom cook for themselves.
Encouraged by the enthusiasm of the many chefs they spoke to -- and armed with their industry experience (and intense love of soup) -- Ersher and Elias began to pursue their concept and set this goal: to take soup to the next level by offering customers the one-of-a-kind soup creations they love, in a format that is consistent with today’s lifestyles and dining trends.
With this in mind, the partners teamed up with a talented chef who understood their aspirations and believed in the strength of their concept. Then, they got to work on the careful trial-and-error process that involved hundreds of recipes, and weekly focus group tastings in which scores of participants completed formal evaluations of each potential recipe.
It was this two-year process that, ultimately, yielded Zoup!’s hundreds of exclusive soup recipes, and that made way for the company’s category-defining quick-casual concept. And, with this important piece of the puzzle in place, Ersher and Elias sold their original business and turned their attentions full-time to rolling out the Zoup! concept.
A History of Robust Growth
Zoup!’s first store opened in 1998 in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. The restaurant was an immediate success and within five years the company opened five more Detroit-area locations.
Also during this period, the company worked on beefing up its infrastructure and developing an unlimited soup capacity, all with an eye toward making Zoup! a premier franchise organization.
