Purely American Soup Mixes  Ray Leard got started in the mid-Eighties with a small deli in Norfolk, Virginia. It became quite well known locally for a delicious New Orleans style soup he called French Market ’18 bean’ soup. He developed a mix version that his customers could make at home that became a huge seller. By 1987, he sold the deli to focus entirely on soup mixes and called his new company Purely American. Over time, he has developed a tremendous assortment of top quality, unique soup mixes that are truly tops in the business. We are proud to feature all 36 of their soup mixes (the largest variety of any of our vendors).