Prairie Soup, Java Creek exchanging product offerings

A product swap between Java Creek Cafe and Prairie Soup Co. is helping both companies thrive in a tough market.

Java Creek Cafe, 588 Boyson Road NE, recently began carrying gourmet soups from Prairie Soup Co., 425 2nd St. SE, skywalk level.

Prairie Soup, in return, has begun selling fresh-ground coffee from Java Creek.

Prairie Soup co-owner Ryan Buresh said Java Creek is offering two soups from Prairie Soup's menu on any given day, and he is offering Java Creek's coffee products daily.

Buresh said he's been trying to break into new wholesale markets since opening Prairie Soup in the fall of 2008. He was pleased when Tyler Altenhofen of Java Creek decided to expand the cafe's soup offerings.

“And we get coffee that's almost still warm from the roaster,” Buresh said.

Prairie Soup's plans to branch out with wholesale acounts and other retail locations have been delayed by the need to tweak the formula at the restaurant's first location.

Buresh said that because of Prairie Soup's skywalk level location in the 425 Building, he quickly found that the majority of its customers would come from inside the 425 Building.

Prairie Soup features a five-soup menu that changes every three months.

To get repeat business from the building occupants, Prairie Soup had to broaden its menu to include made-to-order sandwiches and wraps.

“In terms of our menu, it's become more complex than we originally thought,” Buresh said.

Employment growth at APAC Customer Service's operations in the 425 Building have been good for business, and Prairie Soup recently added breakfast burritos to its menu. An espresso machine was added about one year ago.

Prairie Soup hasn't given up on adding additional retail locations, Buresh said, but is currently focused on adding wholesale accounts.