Zoup! Forges Its Own Category In The Quick-Casual Marketplace

By: Z!EATS | 3 Shares 235 Reads

(Ferndale, MI) Zoup! Fresh Soup Company – the country's leading quick-casual soup concept restaurant – is doing for the soup category what Panera® did for the bakery/café category and Qdoba® and Baja Fresh® did for the fresh burrito category. It is creating and capturing a dining market segment that didn't previously exist.

The company has taken its lead by offering premium and proprietary soups and other recipes, and by giving customers what they want: an adult-focused menu featuring upscale, freshly-prepared food, served in a casual and comfortable setting. Zoup! also wins customers by offering them limited table service and the opportunity to control how much (or how little) time they spend dining – all for a check that averages from $6 to $9 per person.

According to Eric Ersher, Managing Partner of Zoup! Fresh Soup Company, LLC, "The Zoup! concept draws its strength from the company's proven ability to deliver menu items and a dining experience that consistently exceed customers' expectations." The company also attributes its success to its understanding of the segment's potential and its ability to develop a soup-related concept solid enough to mirror the impressive annual growth rate the quick-casual category has been experiencing.

Here are some of the other trends fueling the growth of Zoup! and quick-casual dining:

* A significant decline in the cost difference between dining out and cooking at home. According to 2002 estimates reported in Investor's Business Daily, the average price of a restaurant meal was only 25% more than what its ingredients would cost if purchased in a supermarket.
* Americans have less free time than ever. More than 50% of U.S. families had two income earners in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And, in many families, both parents hold full-time jobs. Clearly, this leaves less time to prepare meals at home and makes dining out the most convenient option.
* The steady growth in disposable income. Americans can more readily afford to eat out. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, disposable income per household increased 2.3% between 1998 and 2003. With the aging of the baby boom generation, the country's population will become older and wealthier, and quite able to support restaurant growth for many years. The National Restaurant Association estimates that by 2010, total sales in the restaurant industry will exceed $577 billion. At that time, consumers will spend 53% of every food dollar on meals, snacks, and beverages prepared away from home.

Zoup! Fresh Soup Company, LLC was started in 1998 by soup-loving business partners, Eric Ersher and David Elias.

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