New Middlebury cafe giving back to community with motto ‘do good, eat good’
MIDDLEBURY, Ind.—A new café in Middlebury is helping the community to give back to local charities with their motto of “do good, eat good.”
Souper Brew, located at 830 S. Main Street, opened up officially on August 12 after about a month in their soft opening period, but it didn’t take long for a local nonprofit to benefit from the shop’s philanthropic mentality.
“With every purchase, so when you come in and buy anything, soda, soup, salad, coffee, anything you buy, a portion of that sale, every sale, goes to a local charity,” owner Stacy Bontrager said.
Souper Brew donated $1,000 to LoveWay Inc. as part of the café’s initiative to raise money with every purchase made, for the causes that the community cares about.
Bontrager, a Middlebury native, and his wife also own Getaway Salon right next door to Souper Brew, so they’re no strangers to launching a business.
“We saw a need here in our community, not for eating establishments, there are lots of eating establishments, but for a healthier choice, especially for like lunches and suppers, for not only the people who live here but the people who come here and work,” Bontrager said.
This week, the café is raising money for Blessing in a Backpack, which helps Northridge and Middlebury students with meals on the weekends.
“We’re just going to keep picking one charity after another that’s close and we want to show people that hey you can come in and get really great food and eat good but you can take some of your money and do good with it, too,” Bontrager said.
It’s not just money that the café is giving out either.
“We freeze our leftover soup and bring it down to Middlebury Food Pantry for them to hand out to people,” Bontrager said.
The café offers a wide variety of soups and coffee items, as well as a salad bar.
Local coffee roaster Refinery in Goshen crafted the café’s special blends.
The Bontragers also knew that their grab-and-go model would make way for a large amount of waste, so they came up with a plan to use only biodegradable or compostable cups, straws and to-go containers.
“Recycling can be hard so we wanted people to be able to throw away their stuff and not worry about it ending up in a landfill,” Bontrager said.
As for why he chose Middlebury for the café, Bontrager says the decision was easy.
“I don’t think you could pick a better hometown to start something from scratch that’s a new idea,” Bontrager said.
Souper Brew is open every day, Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.