Soupapotamus

There is a hippopotamus in a chef's hat on the front of every bag, and that tells you most of what you need to know about Susan Efthimou. She started Soupapotamus in Painted Post, New York, selling soup at farmers markets around Corning, working with the small farms right there for the vegetables, the herbs and even the maple sugar. The soups are dried, which sounds unromantic until you work out what it buys you: a real bowl of soup that waits in your cupboard until the night you need it. Add water. Heat it. Twenty minutes later there is dinner on the table, made from vegetables that grew about an hour away, and you did almost nothing. Soup in a pot is a must, it says on the bag, and she means it.