Soup to take coffee chain route

Soup looks set to go the same way as coffee with strongly branded US-style soup outlets springing up just as the coffee houses did a few years ago. Two existing pilot concepts are to be expanded considerably and another will go live in October.

Scott Libby Heming is working on branding and interiors for Soup Works, a new initiative set up by restaurateur Bruce Isaacs.

The identity will change twice a year to reflect the seasons, to encourage people to consume soup in the summer as well as the winter. The first outlet will open in October, just off London’s Oxford Street.

Isaacs says he intends to roll the concept out initially across London and plans one new store every three months for the first two years.

The New Covent Garden Soup Company plans to expand its one branch of Souper Douper in Victoria Station to 50 outlets across the UK over the next five years, starting in September. Genetic Design Partnership, which is owned by Souper Douper, has created six new formats from the existing concept by Proteus Design and Strategy Consultants. Souper Douper has an exclusive agreement with NCGSC to run the branded outlets.

Meanwhile, Soup Opera, the Canary Wharf pilot outlet that went live earlier this year, is to open two branches in London’s City area (DW 8 May). Lippa Pearce and Din Associates have been retained to work on branding and interiors respectively and are just beginning to evolve the pilot concept.

See News Analysis, page 8