The Call That Changed Everything: How Lineage Logistics Helped Build Canada’s First Soup Bank
- sharonhapton
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Updated: May 3
Since the launch of Soup Sisters in 2009, we partnered with cooking schools, chefs, and industry leaders across the country to host community hands-on soup-making events. We grew to operating in 27 cities across Canada with a model that allowed us to grow quickly nationwide, operate with low overhead, and engage thousands of volunteers across the country.
Then, in 2020, everything stopped, and our events came to a halt overnight.
The very thing that had fueled our growth across the country, bringing people together in the camaraderie of the kitchen was suddenly no longer possible.
When the World Shut Down, the Need Grew
The pandemic didn’t just pause our events; it intensified the need.
Food insecurity soared. Shelters and frontline agencies were under immense pressure, facing higher demand with fewer resources.
At the time, Soup Sisters was supporting about 60 agencies through our community soup-making events. We weren’t just providing nourishment; we were helping reduce their food costs by as much as 20%.
Shutting down wasn’t an option, so we reimagined everything.
What many called a ‘pivot’ was, for us, a complete transformation. In less than a month we moved from small batch, volunteer-driven soup-making events to large-scale, kettle production made possible through an incredible partnership with a commercial production facility.
We became a wholesaler—but not in the traditional sense. No markup, no margin—just high-quality, freshly made, nourishing soup provided to the agencies that needed it most.
But one critical challenge remained: how do you get fresh, frozen soup to shelters across an entire country?
The Phone Call That Built a Movement
When I found the contact number for the COO of VersaCold (now Lineage Logistics) right there on their website, I knew it was meant to be!
I made the call.
I told him that we are supporting emergency shelters across the country; they rely on us. We can get the soup made; we just don’t know how to get it there. It was the onset of COVID, and the world was uncertain. Operations everywhere were in flux.
The response was simple: “We’re in.” That moment changed everything, and I will never forget it.
At a time when so much was shutting down, this was something opening up. It felt like a rare intersection of timing, trust, and incredible humanity.
The Power of Partnership
Together with Lineage, we built something entirely new - Canada’s first Soup Bank - and quite possibly the first of its kind in North America.
Through their national cold-chain infrastructure, they:
Flash-freeze and store our soup inventory,
Deliver it across the country—often directly to the doors of shelters.
This partnership is about more than efficiency; it’s also about shared values. Lineage understood something immediately: that food support should not just fill a gap—it should nourish a person.
A model that challenges the traditional approach to food aid, prioritizing people, not pounds. Because Lineage Logistics doesn’t just move our soups from coast to coast, they make sure Hugs in a Bowl are reaching the communities that need them.
It’s incredible to think that what started as a soup-making birthday party in Calgary has grown into a national system of care. And it exists because one company said yes.
Today, we are proud to operate an efficient hybrid model—where our renowned community soup-making events continue in cities across the country, alongside our Soup Bank, allowing us to provide delicious, nourishing soup to thousands of people each month
Because at the end of the day, soup is more than a meal. It’s a message that says, "We see you, we care." And together, we’re making sure that message is heard—one bowl at a time.
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