Soup biz heats up in Shakopee

April through July can be cruel months in the soup business. But soup ladies Maggie Mortensen and Mary Dodds, best friends since their college years at St. Kate's, have reason to be optimistic.

After 28 years operating their Shakopee business North Aire Market, the gourmet soup makers are on the verge of expanding in a big way. They are in talks with Costco and Sam's Club for national distribution. The debut of their five-soup pack on QVC last month sold out in nine minutes.

Dodds went to Mortensen's house to watch the segment live. "Mary was pacing like a crazy animal, then the QVC guy looks into the camera and says, 'Hi Mary and Maggie' and we waved right back at the TV like we were kids," Mortensen said.

Rich Yoegel, vice president of merchandising at QVC, said the soup debut had a great customer response. "We are excited to bring Maggie and Mary's current assortment back for a second airing in the near future and also explore the wide variety of other soups and mixes available."

Their secret ingredient remains the same — a simple gourmet dish that cooks can make on their own, usually in less than 30 minutes.

While prepackaged soup saw moderate declines from 2008 to 2011, the category is expected to continue slow growth through 2018, according to Mintel. The global research company said that brands can grow with healthier offerings, expanded flavors and convenient packaging.

Maggie and Mary's soups fit the bill with dried, not reconstituted ingredients. "Cooking a soup and then removing the liquid sucks out a lot of the flavor," Mortensen said. "We used fresh ingredients that are dried to keep them shelf stable but not precooked."

"Camp Traditions and Pantry Packs are an attempt to go national," Dodds said. "We're in L.L. Bean, Bass Pro Shops in Canada and on QVC."

Dodds said the forecast for dried soups is brighter than that for canned. "Dried soups allow for easier introduction of ethnic flavors," she said. She and Mortensen have introduced gluten-free varieties, eliminated trans fat before it was mandated, and kept fat content lower than average. But both have been way ahead of the trend toward local or regional sourcing. "We were doing it before it was popular," Mortensen said.

Besides wild rice from Minnesota, they found a local boutique creamery for dairy products. The potatoes, which are cleaned with steam instead of a chemical peel, come from the Red River Valley in Minnesota. Even the salmon for the salmon bisque soup, now discontinued, came from a Wisconsin fish farm. An exception to local sourcing is the dumplings for the chicken dumpling soup. "We couldn't find a good dumpling in the U.S. so we get them in Germany," said Mortensen.

The soups' local appeal caught the eyes of the trend team at Sam's Club. In January, the warehouse chain started testing a Pantry Pack with 24 servings in the Maple Grove, Eagan, Shakopee, St. Louis Park and Woodbury locations. "We have a strong focus on working with small businesses to bring great local products to our members," said Tara Raddohl, director of corporate communications at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. "The food category in general is trending toward growth in small companies providing unique products."

Whether Sam's Club will sell the soups in stores nationally is still to be determined, but the product is still in stores locally and online.

Early on, Mortensen and Dodds discovered that people have an emotional connection to their food. A marketer advised them to put their picture on the package, which they initially resisted. "He told us that we're the story, we're the brand. Apparently, big companies want marketers to help them look small. Small companies want to look big. We just wanted to tell our story like it is," Mortensen said.

A customer called North Aire Market to complain that the photo of Maggie and Mary on the box was as fictionalized as Betty Crocker. "We just told the truth and sent him more pictures of us. When your picture is on the box, you feel personally invested," Mortensen said.

Andy Gutowski, owner and creative director at 423 Creative in Louisiana, who created the packaging for Camp Traditions and Pantry Pack, used pictures of Maggie and Mary's customers on the Camp Traditions line. "Authenticity is what they're all about," he said.

Varieties of Maggie and Mary's soups and other North Aire products are available locally at Lunds & Byerly's, Bibelot, Davlin's, Bachman's, and Fleet Farm. Free samples will be served by Dodds and Mortensen during a warehouse sale from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at 1157 Valley Park Dr., Suite 130, in Shakopee.