Soul-Warming Soups — The Comfort of a Slow-Simmered Bowl, SOUPER

In Moby-Dick, the novel that follows a voyage in search of the great white whale, clam chowder appears as a dinner for the whaling crew. Just as this soup — potatoes, bacon, and clams simmered slowly together — comforted men exhausted by long voyages, the soup brand SOUPER, run by a brother and sister, offers the same warmth in a bowl to modern people worn down by daily life.

Interviewer Parc Jinmyoung
Interviewee Kwon Sohee, Kwon Yongjun (Co-founders of SOUPER)

Could you give us a brief introduction to SOUPER?
Kwon Sohee (hereafter Sohee) We’re a homemade soup brand that offers busy modern people simple, healthy food. Soup uses everything from root to leaf without waste, so it lets us practice zero waste, and using well-grown produce helps local farms too. We hoped a single bowl of soup could contribute to a virtuous cycle within the community. Soup has always been a symbol of sharing, and we wanted to build a brand that shares warmth and care in the same way — that’s how SOUPER began.

What made you decide to open a soup specialty shop?
Sohee I studied fashion in New York and worked at a company there. I used to carry soup in a tumbler and drink it on my commute. Maybe it sounds exaggerated to say soup felt like a brief rest in the middle of a busy day (laughs). But it digests easily even when you eat it in a hurry, so I thought it was the perfect food for busy modern people. When I came back to Korea and saw office workers rushing through a meal with instant cup noodles at convenience stores, I decided I had to open a soup specialty shop.
Kwon Yongjun (hereafter Yongjun) Soup has the advantages of both fast food and slow food. It’s also a pure, careful dish made by simmering ingredients for a long time without any additives, letting the ingredients speak for themselves. In Korea, soup is often seen as a side dish, but we wanted to show that it can be a satisfying meal on its own.

It’s not common for siblings to start a business together — what advantages does that bring?
Yongjun I was working at a company when my sister (Sohee) suggested I join her. Since our personalities and roles are different, we run things smoothly without much friction. I focus on store operations, while she focuses on menu development and branding.
Sohee Unlike me, who tends to be positive about everything, my brother is more cautious, so I think we balance each other out well. When a new idea comes up, I’m the type to just try it, while he starts by carefully reviewing every detail (laughs).

How did you come up with the menu?
Sohee The menu includes clam chowder, probably the most classic soup, and Songi Songi Truffle Bisque, made with mushrooms and cream, but we intentionally tried to avoid the cream-based soups Koreans tend to prefer. I wanted to show the endless possibilities that soup as a food can offer. That’s why we developed menus using a variety of ingredients like tomato, chicken stock, and chorizo.
Yongjun That’s also why we offer sourdough, ciabatta, and pasta to go with the soup, as well as rice. We keep experimenting with how versatile and expandable soup can be.

How do you source your ingredients?
Yongjun Like any restaurant, we have our regular suppliers. When we’re in a pinch, we often use the vegetable shop nearby too. In the past, we actively used ‘ugly’ produce, but as its value has risen recently, the price has gone up. We can’t always use ugly produce now, but we try to use as much of it as we can.
Sohee When we first started SOUPER, there wasn’t nearly as much interest in ugly produce as there is now. Because it lowered the product’s value, it often couldn’t be distributed and ended up thrown away after sitting in storage. These days, I hear it sells out because there isn’t enough to go around, which I think is actually a good thing.

I heard that before opening a storefront, you ran a food truck in Yeouido, Seoul.
Sohee We finished the branding work in 2017, but jumping straight into opening a store felt daunting somehow. I also wondered whether people would actually like it. So I rented a food truck by myself and tested things out in Yeouido, selling soup for two hours a day around commuting hours.

I saw a comment on SOUPER’s social media saying, ‘I still can’t forget the soup I used to buy near Exit 2 of Yeouido Station.’
Sohee The six months I spent running the food truck were really fun. As regular customers started showing up one by one, I found myself going out every day. It felt less like running a business and more like keeping an appointment with them. Some customers even brought me gifts from their business trips. I’m so grateful that people still watch us with that much affection, enough to leave comments by hand. Of course, there were hard times too. In the beginning, it wasn’t easy to find a good spot, so every morning I’d hand out a bowl of soup to the vendors who were already set up nearby. It was a precious experience I learned firsthand, through trial and error.

After the Mapo branch, you opened locations at Gangnam-gu Office and Gwanghwamun. What concept did you use for the branding and store interiors?
Sohee We chose a countryside farmhouse as our motif. That meant it was important to create a comfortable atmosphere no matter when or with whom someone visits. One of the things we focused on most was making a space where solo diners could relax without feeling self-conscious. So we widened the depth of the tables set against the wall and lowered the lighting. When you go eat alone somewhere and the table is pressed right up against the wall with little room to spare, or the lighting is bright and white, you feel like you have to hurry up and leave, right?
Yongjun The Gwanghwamun branch, which opened six months ago, is probably the closest to the space we originally envisioned. When we were designing the interiors for the Mapo and Gangnam-gu Office branches, it was our first time doing this, so we relied a lot on outside contractors, but as we gained experience, we got a better sense of what we wanted.

Were there any travel destinations or spots you referenced when opening SOUPER locations?
Sohee Panera Bread, the American casual dining brand that’s part bakery, part restaurant. They sell everything from bagels to soups, sandwiches, salads, and pasta, and have around 2,000 locations across the U.S. It’s been one of my favorite restaurants since I lived in the U.S. from high school on. I’ve never once been disappointed after visiting. So we referenced places with that same comfortable atmosphere, like Panera Bread, quite a bit.

Do you have any tips of your own for picking a great restaurant while traveling?
Yongjun I love Tokyo, Japan. I tend to prefer quiet neighborhoods there. When choosing a restaurant, I usually ask taxi drivers for recommendations. Then I check the number of menu items on Google Maps. In particular, I trust restaurants that use a single stock or broth as the base for a range of dishes — soups, noodles, rice bowls, and more.

Do you have any future plans or goals?
Yongjun A lot of customers who visit us, ‘I wish there was one in my neighborhood too.’ For customers who live far from our store, we created a subscription service for ready-to-eat meals and homemade soups. Our goal is to expand the number of stores so that anyone, anywhere, can easily enjoy healthy and delicious soup.