The Company Behind Panera's Soups Also Makes These Grocery Store Items

The Panera soup craze really starts to amp up in the fall, once temperatures drop a bit and the sky starts looking like something out of a "Twilight" movie, but technically, the brand rotates and supplies its core soups all year round. Panera's soups are also available at grocery retailers, so customers can stock up on their favorite cups of creamy baked potato soup for enjoyment even in the middle of July. While we already know that Panera's in-store soups arrive frozen, it's worth noting that Panera's store-bought soups are manufactured by a different company altogether. 

Panera's store-bought soups are manufactured by Blount Fine Foods, which was revealed a few years ago when the company issued a voluntary limited recall of Panera's Southwest Corn Chowder cups. Other than making products for Panera, Blount Fine Foods makes an expansive list of products under its own family of brands, which includes Blount's Family Kitchen, Blount Fine Foods, and Blount Clam Shack. Fresh and frozen soups, side dishes, sauces, and pot pies are just a few of the products you might spot at grocery stores with the Blount name. The company also manufactures soups, chowders, and bisques for a brand named Legal Sea Foods.

Blount Fine Foods not only manufactures Panera's store-bought soups (which are different than the soups in the restaurants), but it's also responsible for several of Panera's packaged bowls and containers of mac and cheese. The company has been in business since 1880 and has remained family-owned for five generations. It specializes in creating pre-packaged food items for big-name retailers, though it began as a seafood-focused operation. With three facilities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Texas, the company touts the honor of being "the largest producer of clam chowder in New England and the largest manufacturer of lobster bisque in the country," according to its website. 

Blount makes essentially every packaged Panera soup, from the broccoli cheddar soup to the creamy tomato soup, the New England clam chowder to the chicken noodle soup, and everything in between. It's also responsible for the Panera packaged soups in various sizes, including the 10-ounce cups, the 16-ounce cups, and the 32-ounce cups. So, the next time you pick up a cup of Panera's Autumn Squash Soup (arguably the absolute best soup you can order at Panera), you can thank Blount Fine Foods.