Food truck owners are consistently looking for a ways to get their customers to spend a little bit more cash with each of their orders. A study by Technomic suggests that if you add soup to your food truck menu, or, if you already have it on your menu, promoting it more is the way to accomplish this task. According to the study, the percentage of respondents who occasionally order soup is up to 62% from 43% just two years ago. Need more convincing?

add soup

A bowl of warm soup from The Soup to Nuts Truck in Orlando, FL

4 Reasons to Add Soup to your Food Truck Menu:

  • Consumers also report that they will be looking for healthier options in the future, so providing soup as a possible substitute for a side can be very profitable and also satisfy their demands.
  • Soup is cheap to produce and a good way to reuse ingredients that you already stock in your kitchen.
  • It is a versatile dish that can range in flavor from the more traditional and comforting to new, exotic and daring.
  • Soup can increase guest tickets by up to 15%.

Winter is the perfect time to add soup to your food truck menu. Colder weather means everyone is trying to warm up and it is time to innovate and try to cater to customers’ tastes even more.

Wondering how to market the your new items after you add soup to your menu?

3 Simple Marketing Tips:

  • Go local. Making your soups from local, in-season vegetables will not only make them taste better, it will be better for the environment AND force you to get creative.
  • Make it from scratch. Making your soups without the help of bouillon or boxed broth will ensure that it has a depth of flavor as well as your food truck’s own unique taste.
  • Try unique garnishes. Garnishes can be an easy and inexpensive way to upgrade your soup from a traditional staple to that unusual dish your customer has been craving.

RELATED: 12 Ways To Cut Costs In A Food Truck Kitchen

Here is a list of traditional regional soup varieties any food truck can use to find a fit for their concept and warm their customers during the coldest times of the year.

Traditional Regional Soup Varieties

  • Asopao is a rice soup very popular in Puerto Rico.
  • Ajiaco is a chicken soup from Colombia.
  • Ärtsoppa, Swedish split pea soup, served with mustard and fresh marjoram or thyme.
  • Avgolemono is a Greek chicken soup with lemon and egg.
  • Bajajou, a soup of Slovakian origin, is made with boiled beef intestines, chicken egg, onion and rice.
  • Bird’s nest soup is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
  • Bisque is a thick, creamy, highly-seasoned soup, classically of pureed crustaceans, of French origin.
  • Borscht is a beet-vegetable soup originally from Ukraine.
  • Bouillabaisse, a fish soup from Marseille, is also made in other Mediterranean regions; in Catalonia it is called bullebesa.
  • Bourou-bourou is a vegetable and pasta soup from the island of Corfu, Greece.
  • Caldo verde is a Portuguese minced kale soup
  • Callaloo is a thick, creamy soup made with okra and, often, crab meat from Trinidad and Tobago
  • Canh chua (sour soup) made with rice, fish, various vegetables, and in some cases pineapple is from Vietnam.
  • Canja de galinha is a Portuguese soup of chicken, rice and lemon.
  • Cazuela is a Chilean soup of medium thick flavoured stock obtained from cooking several kinds of meats and vegetables mixed together.
  • Clam chowder is found in two major types, New England clam chowder, made with potatoes and cream, and Manhattan clam chowder, made with a tomato base.
  • Cock-a-leekie soup is leek and potato soup made with chicken stock, from Scotland.
  • Cullen skink, also from Scotland, is a fish soup made with smoked haddock, potatoes, onions and cream.
  • Egg drop soup, a savory Chinese soup, is made by adding already-beaten eggs into boiling water or broth.
  • Egusi soup, a traditional soup from Nigeria, is made with vegetables, meat, fish, and balls of ground melon seed. It’s often eaten with fufu.
  • Etrog, a fruit soup made from the citron used in Jewish Ritual at the feast of Succoth, is eaten by Ashkenazi Jews at Tu Bishvat.
  • Ezogelin soup is a traditional Turkish variety of lentil soup, also very common in Turkey.
  • Faki soupa is a Greek lentil soup, with carrots, olive oil, herbs and possibly tomato sauce or vinegar.
  • Fanesca is a traditional cod soup from Ecuador.
  • Fasolada is a traditional Greek bean soup.
  • French onion soup is a clear soup made with beef broth and sauteed (caramelized) onions.
  • Garbure is a traditional dish in Gascony (southwest France), midway between a soup and a stew.
  • Gazpacho (from Spain and Portugal) is a savory soup based on tomato.
  • Goulash is a Hungarian soup of beef, paprika and onion.
  • Gumbo, a traditional Creole soup from the Southern United States, is thickened with okra pods, roux and sometimes filé powder.
  • Halászlé (fisherman’s soup), a very hot and spicy Hungarian river fish soup, is made with hot paprika.
  • Íslensk Kjötsúpa is a traditional Icelandic meat soup made with lamb and vegetables.
  • Kharcho is a Georgian soup of lamb, rice, vegetables and a highly spiced boullion.
  • Kulajda is a Czech sour cream soup.
  • Kyselo is a traditional Bohemian (Krkonoše region) sour soup made from sourdough, mushrooms, cumin, potatoes and scrambled eggs.
  • Lagman, a tradition in Uzbekistan, is made with pasta, vegetables, ground lamb and numerous spices.
  • Lan Sikik is a Thai soup made with noodles, dried fish and tomato extract.
  • Leek soup, a simple soup made from leeks, is popular in Wales during Saint David’s Day.
  • Lentil soup is popular in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines.
  • Magiritsa Soup made in Greece and Cyprus using lamb offal.
  • Maryland crab soup is made of vegetables, blue crab meat, and Old Bay Seasoning in a tomato base, from Maryland.
  • Menudo, a traditional Mexican soup, is with tripe (usually beef) and hominy.
  • Michigan bean soup has been a staple for over a hundred years in the U.S. Senate dining room in the form of Senate bean soup.
  • Minestrone is an Italian vegetable soup.
  • Miso soup is made from fish broth and fermented soy in Japan.
  • Mulligatawny is an Anglo-Indian curried soup.
  • Nässelsoppa (nettle soup), made with stinging nettles, and traditionally eaten with hard boiled egg halves, is considered a spring delicacy in Sweden.
  • Nkatenkwan is a heavily spiced soup from Ghana based on groundnut with meat, most often chicken, and vegetables added. It is generally eaten with fufu.
  • Noodle soup is the common name for a diverse collection of soups with varied ingredients, including (obviously) noodles.
  • Okroshka is a cold soup of Russian origin.
  • Partan bree is a Scottish soup made with crabmeat and rice
  • Patsás is made with tripe in Greece. It is also cooked in Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula.
  • easants’ Soup is a catch-all term for soup made by combining a diverse—and often eclectic—assortment of ingredients. Variations on peasants’ soup are popular in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Africa.
  • Philadelphia pepper pot soup, a Philadelphia specialty, is traditionally made with tripe.
  • Ph? is Vietnamese beef/chicken soup with scallions, welsh onion, cherred ginger, wild coriander (Eryngium foetidum), basil, cinnamon, star anise, clove and black cardamom.
  • Psarosoupa, a Greek fish soup, is made in various versions with a variety of fish types.
  • Revithia is a Greek chickpea soup.
  • Sancocho is chicken soup with vegetables in Latin America.
  • Scotch broth is made from mutton or lamb, barley and root vegetables.
  • Shchav, a sorrel soup in Polish, Russian and Yiddish cuisines, is sour from the sorrel.
  • Shchi, a Russian soup with cabbage as the primary ingredient.
  • She-crab soup, from Charleston, South Carolina, is a creamy soup made with blue crab meat and crab roe.
  • Sinigang, from the Philippines, is a clear sour soup made from tamarind paste and meat, fish, or vegetables.
  • Snert (erwtensoep), a thick pea soup, is eaten in the Netherlands as a winter dish, and is traditionally served with sliced sausage.
  • Solyanka – Russian soup on a meat, fish or vegetable broth with pickles, spices and smoked meat or fish.
  • Sopa da Pedra, is a rich traditional Portuguese soup with lots of ingredients.
  • Sopa de Peixe, is a traditional Portuguese fish soup.
  • Soto, a traditional Indonesian soup made with turmeric, galangal, etc., usually contains either beef or chicken.
  • Svartsoppa a traditional Swedish soup, whose main ingredient is goose and, sometimes, pig’s blood, and is made in Skåne, the southermost region of Sweden.
  • Split peas soup, a thick soup made in the Caribbean from split peas (chickpeas or garbanzos), usually includes “ground provision” vegetable staples and some type of meat.
  • Tarator is a Bulgarian cold soup made from yogurt and cucumbers.
  • Tomato soup comes in several varieties, with tomatoes in common.
  • Tom yum is the name for two similar hot and sour soups with fragrant herbs from Laos and Thailand.
  • Tarhana soup, from Persian cuisine is made with fermented grains and yogurt.
  • Trahanas is a variation of the above soup using chicken and Halloumi cheese
  • “Tuscan bean soup” is an Italian classic, using cannellini and borlotti beans, and prosciutto
  • Vichyssoise, a French-style soup invented by a French chef at the Ritz Hotel in New York City, is a cold purée of potatoes, leeks, and cream.
  • Waterzooi is a Belgian fish soup.
  • Yukgaejang, a Korean spicy beef soup, also includes vegetables.
  • Zurek, a Polish sour rye soup with sausages, is often served in a bowl made of bread.

The Bottom Line

Soup is a true global specialty, showcasing ingredients, flavors, and traditions from around the world. Many international soups, in fact, have become commonplace on food truck menus. Take advantage of soup’s wide popularity and add soup as a vehicle for introducing customers to new ideas in fun, low-risk and profitable ways.

Do you have plans to add soup to your food truck menu? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section or on social media. Facebook | Twitter