For SoupCycle, organic soups and bike delivery are a big hit

Sometimes the values of a community and a business are perfectly in sync. That’s exactly the case with Portland’s SoupCycle, a business that creates unique organic soups, breads and salads and delivers them to customer homes and businesses by bike. Owners Shauna Lambert and Jed Lazar came up with the idea several years ago while they were working toward MBA degrees at Bainbridge Graduate Institute on Bainbridge Island. The institute guides students in how to develop businesses that are environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and financially successful . The first step for Lambert and Lazar was creating unique soups and sharing them with friends and neighbors. The taste test was a hit and the idea took off. “I knew that if the concept of bicycle-delivered organic soups would work anywhere, it would work in Portland,” Lazar said. “This city prides itself on being bicycle-friendly, and is one of the most health-conscious places in the country.” Lazar’s thoughts turned out to be prophetic. Since it opened for business three years ago, SoupCycle has made more than 37,000 soup deliveries and continues to grow. ‘When we started the company we threw a party, invited everyone we knew and asked them to sign up for a Soupscription,” Lazar recalled. “That week we cooked our first soups and made our first few deliveries. Thank god people loved the soups and word spread. Six months later we were doing 100 deliveries a week and hired our first employee. Now we have seven.” The way it works is fairly simple. Customers sign up for a Soupscription, basically an agreement to purchase weekly soup deliveries over the course of a few months. Each week, they select a soup or soups from an online form. Soups arrive at their door on a preset day. The subscription part of the business means SoupCycle has to offer enough soups to keep customers engaged and interested. “We have fifty rotating soups on the menu,” Lazar said. “Each week, we feature a vegan soup, a veggie soup and a meaty soup. A lot of vegan soups use coconut milk, obviously not the most local ingredient. Sometimes there’s a balance you have to strike to offer your customers variety.” While it has grown and become more profitable, SoupCycle has steadfastly held onto its original core values. They continue to push the sustainability envelope and they refuse to change the way they do business. “I’d heard about a soup delivery company that grew to a certain size and abandoned bike delivery,” said Lazar. “That made no sense to me. The fact is, we make it easy for people to make a good decision. Our customers get tasty meals delivered to their door, eat healthier because we source local organic ingredients and feel good about their purchase because they know they’re contributing to a better planet.” Despite its success, SoupCycle does face certain challenges, largely from Northwest winters that limit the availability of local ingredients and make bike delivery difficult. “Not a lot grows in the Northwest during the winter months,” Lazar said. “We get most of our veggies from California, the closest farms that are still in operation in the dead of winter. Still, some things just aren’t readily available in the winter.” The inevitable seasonal menu shifts that must occur are designed to balance customer demands with what’s available. Sometimes, variety is well-received. “We’ve got some popular soups that customers ask for all year long,” said Lazar. “But sometimes the main ingredients aren’t available. I think our seasonal menu has been good for business. Customers like variety and, thankfully, that’s built into the natural growing cycle.” As for delivery challenges, Lazar says SoupCycle has never had to call off deliveries because of weather. Their bike trailers can carry 20 salads, 30 breads, and 40 soups—about 200 pounds in total. A typical delivery day means 15 to 25 miles of cycling pulling the trailer. “Portland winters can get interesting,” he said. “We delivered soup in the snow a couple of years ago. It slowed us down a little, but we got through. There are days when we’re out delivering soup in the cold rain for eight hours. I always bring back-up gloves and have been known to stop for hot chocolates mid-delivery.” SoupCycle is not an entirely unique idea. There are many bicycle-delivery businesses around the country from California to New York, including Seattle and Minneapolis. It appears to be a concept that has appeal in many areas. “This business model is definitely replicable,” Lazar said. “The interest in bicycle-powered businesses is impressive and growing. I’ve been in touch with people in Australia, Germany and all over the United States who are working to start their own bike-based business.” Despite the interest in organic food and planet-friendly delivery, SoupCycle would be nowhere without a great product that people are willing to pay for. “Regardless of how sustainable a company is or how awesome their marketing is, they’ve got to have an incredible product,” Lazar said. “That’s the bottom line. We’ve got 50 incredibly tasty soups. We have customers who’ve ordered soup every week for three straight years. The secret is the soup.”