New England Soup Factory

What New England Soup Factory does

New England Soup Factory is a privately held, family-owned takeout restaurant founded in 1995 in Brookline, Massachusetts by chefs Marjorie Druker and Paul Brophy, both Johnson & Wales University graduates. The company now operates a flagship location at 244 Needham Street in Newton, MA, with a franchisee-operated second location at 140 Washington Street in Salem, MA (which runs its own separate website, ordering platform, and gift card system and does not offer the Modern Rotisserie menu). The business runs two intertwined sub-brands — the Soup Factory Menu (over 100 from-scratch soup recipes plus sandwiches, salads, and sides) and the Modern Rotisserie concept (Apple Brined Rotisserie Chicken made with Certified Humane Murray's Chickens marinated for 24 hours and cooked in a French-made rotisserie oven).

The restaurant is takeout-only at the Newton location, with no indoor seating and limited seasonal outdoor dining. Customers order through the company website (via Toasttab) for pickup until 6:30 PM Monday through Friday, or through DoorDash for delivery within a 9-mile radius (orders accepted until 6:45 PM Monday–Friday). Revenue streams include individual takeout and delivery orders, full-service catering (48–72 hour lead time, $300 delivery minimum within a defined five-town service area), gift cards and e-gift cards, and modest retail revenue from a Thomas Nelson-published cookbook of 100+ recipes sold via Amazon. Menu items carry dietary labels (V, VV, GF, N) indicating accommodation for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and allergen-aware diners.

The customer base is distributed across individual consumers, corporate and family-event catering buyers, community organizations, and dietary-restricted diners, with no disclosed enterprise contracts and no named commercial anchor customers. Distribution is direct-to-consumer (DTC) via three channels — own-website ordering, DoorDash marketplace, and physical pickup — with one independent franchise licensee extending the brand regionally. The business has earned four consecutive Best of Boston awards and features on The Today Show (September 2021). Revenue, headcount, and any external funding are not publicly disclosed; ownership is concentrated with the founding couple and family members who hold operational management roles.

Name

New England Soup Factory

Legal name

New England Soup Factory

Website

https://newenglandsoupfactory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

New England Soup Factory is a family-owned, takeout-only restaurant in Newton, MA founded in 1995, selling over 100 from-scratch soups, Modern Rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, and salads direct to individual consumers, catering clients, and DoorDash delivery customers, with a franchisee location in Salem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Restaurant and Takeout Food Service

NAICS

Food Manufacturing (311), Poultry Processing (311615), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro primary industry

Prepared soups, stews & chili manufacturing (AFAKAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Manufacturing (AFAKACAG), Prepared salads, sandwiches & wraps manufacturing (AFAKAHAE)

Keywords

• Gourmet soup restaurant
• Rotisserie chicken takeaway
• Event catering services
• Comfort food meals
• Sandwich and salad cafe

Headquarters

HQ city

Newton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Food Sales: On-site takeout sales of soups, rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, salads, and desserts to individual consumers. Products sold in various portion sizes (bowl, pint, quart, gallon for soups; whole, half, a la carte pieces for chicken).
2. Catering Services: Catering orders for events including soups, rotisserie chicken, lasagna platters, side dishes, salads, sandwiches, and desserts. Requires 48-72 hours advance notice with delivery available to surrounding towns for orders over $300.
3. Gift Cards: Sale of gift cards and e-gift cards for use at restaurant locations. E-gift cards available for purchase online through the website.
4. DoorDash Delivery: Third-party delivery service partnership where DoorDash handles delivery within a 9-mile radius from the Newton location.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

New England Soup Factory is a takeout-only restaurant in Newton, Massachusetts offering over 100 varieties of fresh, from-scratch gourmet soups, sandwiches, salads, sides, and desserts. It also operates the Modern Rotisserie sub-brand serving Apple Brined rotisserie chicken made with Certified Humane Murray's Chickens, and provides full-service catering for events of any size. The business sells through its website, in-store pickup, DoorDash delivery, and an independently operated Salem franchise.

Product overview

New England Soup Factory & Modern Rotisserie is a takeout-only restaurant founded in 1995 in Brookline, Massachusetts, now located in Newton, MA (with a franchise in Salem, MA). The company operates two complementary food brands: the Soup Factory Menu (featuring over 100 varieties of fresh, from-scratch gourmet soups, sandwiches, salads, sides, and desserts) and the Modern Rotisserie sub-brand (specializing in Apple Brined rotisserie chicken and homemade side dishes). Beyond dine-in/takeout, the portfolio includes a Catering Menu for events of any size, a Cookbook (published by Thomas Nelson with 100+ recipes), E-Gift Cards, and a Holiday & Entertaining Menu for seasonal orders. All food is made from scratch in-house. The company partners with Toasttab for online ordering, DoorDash for delivery, and Amazon for cookbook sales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Modern Rotisserie: A rotisserie concept featuring all-natural, Certified Humane chicken from Murray's Chickens, marinated for 24 hours in a secret recipe. Offers rotisserie chicken meals, a la carte pieces, and homemade side dishes.

Products and services

• Soup Factory Menu The flagship offering of over 100 fresh, from-scratch gourmet soup recipes available in Bowl, Pint, Quart, and Gallon sizes, including house soups and rotating daily specials, plus sandwiches, salads, sides, and desserts for takeout customers.
• Modern Rotisserie A rotisserie chicken concept featuring Apple Brined Rotisserie Chicken (whole, half, and à la carte pieces), rotisserie meal plates with two homemade sides, hot and cold side dishes, gravies, and sauces. Not available at the Salem franchise.
• Today's Specials Daily rotating soup and rotisserie chicken specials including cold soup options and rotating hot soup flavors, plus special rotisserie preparations such as Grandma Florrie's Wet Chicken and Korean BBQ.
• Catering Service Event catering providing soups (bowl through gallon), rotisserie chickens, hot and cold side dishes, salads, sandwich and rollup platters, lasagna and pasta platters, desserts, and utensils, with delivery to Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Waltham, and Watertown.
• E-Gift Cards Gift cards and e-gift cards available for online purchase and redeemable at the Newton location for soups, rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, salads, and catering.
• Holiday & Entertaining Menu Seasonal holiday and entertaining offerings including pre-ordered festive meal packages for hosting occasions and holidays.
• New England Soup Factory Cookbook Published cookbook 'New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation's Best Purveyor of Fine Soup' featuring soup classics, sandwich and salad recipes with full-color photography, sold via Amazon and in-store.

Quantifiable outcome

• Best of Boston award - four consecutive years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Murray's ChickenscoreOthersMurray's Chickens supplies all-natural, Certified Humane chickens raised without antibiotics, growth stimulants, pesticides, or hormones. Chickens are raised on an all-natural, 100% vegetarian diet in Pennsylvania countryside, free of animal by-products or synthetic additives.
• DoorDashcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDoorDash is the exclusive third-party delivery partner providing delivery services within a 9-mile radius from the Newton location. Orders accepted until 6:45 PM Monday-Friday. DoorDash handles all delivery logistics including driver routing.
• Thomas Nelson (Publisher)minorOthersThomas Nelson published the 'New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation's Best Purveyor of Fine Soup'. The cookbook is also available for purchase on Amazon.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Sweetgreen: National salad-focused fast-casual chain with seasonal menus and tech-forward ordering. Comparable premium, locally-sourced positioning and prepared-meals takeout model, but at significantly larger scale and with venture backing.
• Boston Market: National rotisserie-focused takeout chain offering whole chickens, family meals, sides, and catering. Closest large-scale analog to NESF's Modern Rotisserie sub-brand and catering channel, though at much broader scale and lower price point.
• Panera Bread: National fast-casual chain built around soups, sandwiches, and salads with strong takeout and catering programs. Comparable product mix and catering-led growth motion, but operates at vastly larger scale across multiple channels.
• Whole Foods Market Prepared Foods: National grocer's prepared-foods section offering soups, rotisserie chicken, salads, sides, and catering. Competes directly with NESF on convenience, premium sourcing, and catering, though at retail-grocery scale.

Direct peers

• Zoup!: Specialty soup chain offering rotating daily soups, sandwiches, and salads with both dine-in and takeout formats. Most directly comparable peer given its signature focus on a rotating soup menu and similar grab-and-go positioning.
• Souplantation / Sweet Tomatoes: Soup, salad, and baked-goods focused casual dining chain with a from-scratch cooking philosophy. Comparable product breadth across soups, salads, and made-from-scratch menu items, though delivered through buffet format.
• Hale and Hearty Soups: New York-based specialty soup chain with rotating daily soups, sandwiches, and salads in a fast-casual format. Closely mirrors NESF's soup-centric menu and from-scratch positioning, serving as a primary category benchmark.

Emerging players

• Dig: Fast-growing prepared-food concept offering salads, warm bowls, and sides with seasonal sourcing. Overlaps NESF on salads, sides, and a premium-from-scratch positioning, though Dig's focus is bowls rather than soup and rotisserie.

Regional players

• Legal Sea Foods: Established Boston-area seafood chain offering soups (clam chowder), chowders, prepared meals, and catering. Comparable New England regional brand positioning and soup/catering overlap, though anchored on seafood rather than chicken.
• Tatte Bakery & Cafe: Boston-area upscale bakery and cafe with soups, sandwiches, salads, and catering. Comparable on regional Boston brand strength, premium ingredient positioning, and catering channel, though operates dine-in bakeries rather than takeout-only.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCCWFyPsU6tHmb6FU1B-UoqA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/new-england-soup-factory

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New England Soup Factory