Soup Works eyes contract catering market

The new owner of Soup Works, the London soup bar chain created by restaurateur Bruce Isaacs, plans to take the brand name into the contract catering sector. BV Hospitality, a UK-based company that previously owned the Au Bon Pain bakery chain, bought the three soup bars at the end of June, within a month of them going into administration. It also snapped up Fresh Works, a related firm that makes fresh soup and pasta and sells them to Soup Works and other companies. The sale price was not disclosed. Managing director Aldus Chapin said there were exciting opportunities for Soup Works in the business and industry, events and transport sectors of contract catering, where the business would not have to pay high-street rents. He felt the seasonal nature of soup sales made it hard to survive in the high street without branching out into other lines, such as pasta, ice-cream, sandwiches and salads. But Chapin also believed a high-street presence lent credibility to the contract catering proposition. He will retain the existing three bars, but does not expect to open many more. BV Hospitality started in the UK in 1997 with Au Bon Pain, which it sold just over a month ago. At the end of May, it also bought Gigi's, a chain of low-to-mid range London restaurants, three on the high-street and four in railway stations.