Cam and Lauren Richardson have been whipping up some pretty soup-er natural stuff for their Caravan located at the Outdoor Food Court on Esk Street the past five months.

It all started the week before lockdown and has just kept on growing.

Expecting to open their food caravan to sell all their homemade soup back in March, they had to change direction and concentrate on deliveries around the city instead, when Covid-19 hit.

As soon as cafes opened again, their ‘Souper Natural’ mobile caravan finally got to be a part of the food village, and has since become a real hit with the CBD workers.

On the first day they sold 30 litres of soup, and Cam said every day they sell between 10-20 litres of their three options.

“When we started we would run out of soup sometimes in 40 minutes,” he said.

As time went on, they have improved their production process and become better at planning ahead how much soup was required for the day.

Creamy Chicken soup has become their signature dish, and it has loads of vegetables so you can feel really nourished after eating it.

Food trailers at the Outdoor Food Court on Esk Street including Cam’s Souper Natural. Photo: whatsoninvers.nz

“People love it. It is more like a stew, and just like all of our soups, we make the stock from scratch,” he said.

They have had customers say they feel energised in the afternoon when they fuel themselves on the soup instead of things they would normally go for – something Cam had first hand experience with in his previous job.

“We also noticed the art of bringing lunch to work/SIT was dwindling, so we wanted to create something that was healthy, affordable and delicious enough to have every day.”

Over the past five months Cam and his dietitian wife have been perfecting about 10 different recipes, and some of their regulars come back every day.

By the end of the month they hope to be able to restart workplace deliveries again, after teaming up with Cam’s sister and brother-in-law to expand the business.

“One of the things we enjoy most is brightening people’s days during the bleak winter days with a warm soup and a smile.”

Looking forward, Cam, Lauren and the team are creating a spring/summer menu that includes ‘Souper Bowls’ – branching out beyond soups into nourishing bowls of veggies, curries, rice dishes and salads.

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