The Soup Jackie

Yup.  That's what it's gonna be. The business idea is firm, and now, I just need to do the work.  So let me tell you about the idea...

Well, I make really awesome soup.  Pot-licking kind of soup.  Even when I was just starting out as a cook, I made this Mung Bean Soup that was mighty divine.  And for some reason, the majority of the soups that I make intentionally are vegetarian (unless I have bones, in which case I use them and make meat soups).  Lately, at the Red Apron, I've been making the soups more and more as they are universally regarded as being delicious. Love and salt make them good, plus the tweaking to the point that I just want to keep eating them.

And, since I want to educate the eater about the food system but I can't quite see how to make a living from it yet, the idea of having a stock from which to work seems a good one to me- something that I can rely on, that's tangible and supportive and connects me with eaters and farmers.  And it's gotta be food, but a storefront is excessive in terms of its costs and time inputs right now, so I am going to make soup in a rented commercial kitchen and retail it.

Not just any soup, though.  It's going to be local, primarily organic, wheat free, frequently vegan (but not advertised as vegan, because I am afraid my first response to the thought of vegan food is avoidance), be playfully named, and mightily delicious.  It's going to come in one liter glass jars, and be pressure canned and have a shelf life.  It's going to be beautifully labeled and have an awesome website that highlights farmers to back it up.  I'm going to love cooking and canning and delivering it, and when I get tired of doing it, I will hire someone and move on to the next thing.  The built in exit strategy is good for me.

Entrepreneurship, here I come.  There's a lot I have to do, and I am still absorbing the conference, following up with the great people I met there, and releasing the teaching back up that I never used, so there's been a lot of resting this week.  I was bumped off the supply teaching list this week- the day after the decision to go ahead with the soup came about.