Cafe Zupas
Cafe Zupas is a privately held fast-casual restaurant chain operating 80+ company-owned locations across Utah and Minnesota, serving house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and customizable protein bowls to individual diners, corporate catering clients, and fundraising organizations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersWest Jordan, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Cafe Zupas does
Cafe Zupas is a privately held fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 2004 and headquartered in West Jordan, Utah. The company operates 80+ company-owned physical restaurant locations across a regional footprint spanning Utah and Minnesota, offering house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and a signature customizable protein bowl platform branded as Build Your Bowl. Each location operates with an open-kitchen concept and emphasizes made-from-scratch daily preparation as its core positioning. The product portfolio combines customizable bowls with pre-designed protein bowls, sandwiches, salads, soups, sides, desserts, drinks, a kids' combo, seasonal limited-time items, and Try 2 combo meals. Add-on service modules include party trays, corporate and event catering, a fundraising program for organizations, and a points-based rewards program delivered through a mobile app on iOS and Android.
The underlying technology stack is intentionally lean: a mobile ordering and loyalty application (available on the Apple App Store and Google Play) supports favorites reordering, automatic point accumulation, and rewards redemption; a separate dedicated catering website (catering.cafezupas.com) handles B2B and event orders; and the marketing website uses CookieYes for GDPR cookie-consent management. The technology serves operational and customer-engagement functions rather than constituting a proprietary platform. There is no disclosed API, SDK, third-party integrations beyond the consent tool, or AI/ML capabilities.
Cafe Zupas generates revenue through three streams, all structured as one-time transactions rather than subscriptions or licensing: in-restaurant and online retail food and beverage sales (the primary stream), corporate and event catering via the dedicated catering portal, and a fundraising program for schools and community organizations. The go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through physical storefronts supplemented by mobile ordering, with mid-funnel corporate catering outreach. The primary customer segments are individual diners and corporate catering buyers, with schools and nonprofits as a secondary segment; no franchise, wholesale, or licensing model is disclosed, and the chain is entirely company-operated.
Cafe Zupas firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cafe Zupas
- Website
- https://cafezupas.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Cafe Zupas is a privately held fast-casual restaurant chain operating 80+ company-owned locations across Utah and Minnesota, serving house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and customizable protein bowls to individual diners, corporate catering clients, and fundraising organizations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cafe Zupas industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Fast Casual Restaurant
- NAICS
- Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (722320)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Independent Neighborhood Cafes (THAFADAC)
Keywords
Where Cafe Zupas is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- West Jordan
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cafe Zupas business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Restaurant Retail Sales: In-restaurant and online food and beverage sales including bowls, soups, salads, sandwiches, protein bowls, desserts, drinks, and sides
- Catering Services: Corporate and event catering services with party trays, with a dedicated catering website and loyalty program for catering customers
- Fundraiser Programs: Fundraising programs for organizations where Cafe Zupas provides food for events in exchange for organizational support
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Cafe Zupas product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cafe Zupas is a fast-casual restaurant chain operating 80+ open-kitchen locations from Utah to Minnesota, serving house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and customizable protein bowls. The company supplements dine-in and takeout with a mobile ordering app, a points-based rewards program, corporate and event catering via a dedicated catering portal, and a fundraising program for schools and organizations.
Product overview
Cafe Zupas is a fast-casual restaurant chain offering a unified menu of house-made food including protein bowls, sandwiches, salads, soups, desserts, and sides. The core product is the Build Your Bowl customization platform complemented by pre-designed Protein Bowls, limited-time offerings, and combo meals. Additional services include a Rewards loyalty program (accessible via iOS/Android mobile app), office and event Catering, and a Fundraising program for organizations. With 80+ locations across Utah and Minnesota, the company operates open kitchens and emphasizes fresh, made-from-scratch food. The architecture is a single unified restaurant brand with add-on service modules for loyalty, catering, and fundraising rather than a platform-plus-modules software structure.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Companies that use Cafe Zupas
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Cafe Zupas technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Cafe Zupas partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Apple App StorecoreDistribution partnership for Cafe Zupas loyalty and ordering app available for download on iOS devices
- Google Play StorecoreDistribution partnership for Cafe Zupas loyalty and ordering app available for download on Android devices
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Cafe Zupas competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Panera Bread: National fast-casual chain specializing in soups, salads, sandwiches, and bowls with a loyalty program and catering arm—the closest scaled analog to Cafe Zupas's menu and operating model.
- Sweetgreen: Fast-casual chain focused on customizable salads and bowls with a mobile-first ordering experience and loyalty integration, directly comparable to Cafe Zupas's Build Your Bowl and app-driven model.
- Zoup!: Soup-focused fast-casual concept serving soups, salads, and sandwiches with catering and a loyalty program; closely mirrors Cafe Zupas's soup-centric menu and B2B catering channel.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill: Fast-casual leader in customizable bowls and made-to-order meals with strong loyalty, mobile ordering, and catering—directly comparable on customization, digital, and catering dimensions.
- Noodles & Company: Fast-casual chain serving customizable made-to-order dishes including soups, salads, and bowls with catering—comparable menu architecture and customization approach to Cafe Zupas.
- Corner Bakery Cafe: Cafe-style fast-casual chain offering soups, salads, sandwiches, and bowls with catering for offices and events—directly mirrors Cafe Zupas's neighborhood-cafe positioning and B2B catering.
- Salad and Go: Fast-casual salad and bowl concept focused on fresh, made-to-order meals at value pricing with strong expansion velocity—comparable in menu focus on bowls/salads and growth-stage unit growth.
- MOD Pizza: Fast-casual customizable concept with mobile ordering, loyalty, and catering—comparable on personalization, tech-enabled ordering, and multi-channel revenue model.
- Potbelly Sandwich Shop: Fast-casual chain serving sandwiches, salads, and soups with catering—closely comparable menu overlap with Cafe Zupas's core offerings.
- Tropical Smoothie Cafe: Fast-casual franchise concept emphasizing healthy menu items, loyalty/app ordering, and catering—comparable on health-oriented fast-casual positioning and digital engagement.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cafe Zupas social profiles
Digital presenceCafe Zupas financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cafe Zupas leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Cafe Zupas funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cafe Zupas M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cafe Zupas
What does Cafe Zupas do?
Cafe Zupas is a fast-casual restaurant chain operating 80+ open-kitchen locations from Utah to Minnesota, serving house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and customizable protein bowls. The company supplements dine-in and takeout with a mobile ordering app, a points-based rewards program, corporate and event catering via a dedicated catering portal, and a fundraising program for schools and organizations.
Is Cafe Zupas a public or private company?
Cafe Zupas is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cafe Zupas founded?
Cafe Zupas was founded in 2004. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Cafe Zupas based?
Cafe Zupas is headquartered in West Jordan, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cafe Zupas make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Restaurant Retail Sales are the primary driver. The others are catering Services and fundraiser Programs.
Who are Cafe Zupas's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Panera Bread, Sweetgreen, Zoup!, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Noodles & Company, Corner Bakery Cafe, Salad and Go, MOD Pizza, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
Does Cafe Zupas have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cafe Zupas.
What industry is Cafe Zupas in?
Cafe Zupas's product category is Fast Casual Restaurant. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFADAC, Independent Neighborhood Cafes. Its NAICS code is 722513 and its SIC code is 5812.