Know what you want. Have your money ready. Move to the extreme left after ordering. Deviate from these rules, and it's "no soup for you," says "Seinfeld's" legendary Soup Nazi.

While Soup Kitchen International Inc. doesn't adhere to these rules any longer, the concept's founder, Al Yeganeh, had gained such a reputation for himself and his gourmet soup that 'Seinfeld' writers immortalized his character by basing an entire episode on his operation.

The company's restaurants, branded as The Original Soup Man, developed these rules simply to improve the efficiency of a business that made the majority of its profits from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

"Yeganeh was just trying to serve as many people as he could, so he developed rules for customers to speed up the process," says John Bello, chairman and CEO. Prior to his partnership with Yeganeh, Bello was the founder and CEO of SoBe Beverages, a company he sold to PepsiCo Inc. for $370 million in 2001.

Since the company's inception in 1984, Yeganeh has served each meal with one of the soups as an entree, presented with a piece of baguette, fresh fruit and a piece of imported chocolate, Bello says.

"Today, that's the principal offering in all our locations," he explains. After buying the company from Yeganeh in late 2005, the franchise grew to a total of 24 locations throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Colorado and Toronto.

Although the original location is not in operation today, Yeganeh is still involved with the company, operating as Soup Kitchen International's chief soup man. Yeganeh continues to develop recipes and menu additions for the company, and has an equity interest in the corporation, Bello says. "We work with him mainly on PR campaigns, but also on menu additions and recipes," he says.

New Menu Developments
The company rotates its 50 soup recipes throughout the year, with each restaurant offering seven to 10 soups at one time. "We don't have a set rotation of soups we offer in each store," Bello says.

"But we always offer one specialty soup, either our crab or lobster bisque, a couple meat and poultry soups, several vegetarian choices and a seafood soup." In the past six months, the company has expanded its menu to include sandwiches, salads, wraps and smoothies.

"We now offer six meal salads and also introduced three new sandwiches," he says. "Customers can also order combo meals, and enjoy dine-in or carry-out service."

Maintaining Quality
To ensure each restaurant carries consistently high-quality soup, the company operates two production facilities in Indiana and New Jersey, where it sources ingredients and distributes product to each restaurant.

"We feel we have a very good, strong manufacturing process," Bello asserts. "We're able to find quality ingredients and make sure everything meets our standards. In the end, we don't think there are any soups out there that can compare to ours." Training is also imperative when it comes to maintaining quality, Bello adds. Potential franchise owners go through extensive training to ensure they can properly preserve the tradition of Yeganeh's recipes.

"We start the training process right from the beginning," Bello says. "We have a large operations manual and training program they must pass before even starting work. "The training process consists of everything from how to operate the store to the way we prepare and serve the soup," he continues.

"The way we serve the soup is especially important. We always want to make sure every customer receives the best soup offering possible. "The kettle is stirred a certain way before each serving, to make sure there is the right quantity of premium ingredients in each bowl of soup."

Its most popular soup offering is lobster bisque, Bello says. "Each kettle of our lobster bisque includes well over a pound of lobster -that equates to more than 22 percent lobster by volume in each serving," he asserts. "We really don't cut any corners when it comes to using the best ingredients on the market."

Expansion efforts The company is currently working toward expanding its customer base by developing a retail division, giving consumers nationwide the opportunity to experience Yeganeh's soups.

The company now offers five soups available for purchase at retailers across Canada and the Unites States. Its retail offerings include:
· Turkey chili
· Garden vegetable
· Jambalaya
· Seafood bisque
· Chicken vegetable
In addition, the company's soups can be found at more than 1,200 retail locations throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio and New York, at retailers such as:
· Darren Kamp's
· Food Emporium Supermarkets
· Food Town Supermarkets
· Geissler's Supermarkets
· Giant/Tops Supermarkets
· Gristedes
· Heinen's
· Loblaw's Supermarkets
· Marsh Supermarkets
· Price Chopper
· Rockridge Deli
· Rye Country Store
· ShopRite Supermarkets
Customers can also buy the company's soups online, Bello says. "Now, not only can [customers] taste Al's world-renowned soups at restaurant locations throughout the country, but [they] can also buy convenient grab-and-go gourmet soups either at a local grocer, or online," he explains. "In our online store, [customers] can also find Original Soup Man T-shirts, hats, kitchenware, keychains and more for sale," he explains.

Community Involvement
From the beginning, Yeganeh himself had strong roots in the community. At his original location, he would let homeless people come to the front of the line, where he would feed them, never asking for money.

"He now operates Al's Feed the Hungry Foundation, and every time we open a new store, the foundation makes a donation to a local hunger-related charity," Bello explains.

Even though ‘Seinfeld's' Soup Nazi episode made the organization world-famous, it was Yeganeh's true character that made him a New York legend long before the episode aired, Bello says.

"The restaurant had always been highly rated by Zagat, and was voted Best Of New York by New York Magazine in 1988. What was already a New York legend became world-famous by being featured in Seinfeld in 1990.

"But ultimately, I believe the company has great staying power because the product itself is second-to-none," Bello continues.

"What I believe we have here is the perfect marketing storm -the combination of an incredible product and a ready-made, proven brand in Al Yageneh."  FAD