Archive for Food – Page 10

Soylent thought about food so you don’t have to.

Rob Rhinehart demonstrates that no cultural construct or product is safe from being re-imagined and innovated by an Entrepreneur. His victim? The traditional meal.

You may not be convinced at first, but have you ever missed a meal? Eaten something you regretted in while under the effects of hunger? While everyone recognizes this problem, they may not see it as something that could even be solved. Rob Rhinehart thought differently. 

By introducing a meal supplement to the market, Soylent simplifies the lives of people who just don’t think about food. Even if that doesn’t describe you, Soylent’s ingredients may change your mind.

With plant based protein, 21 slow burning fats and 26 different vitamins and minerals, this meal replacement fills your food void in a smarter way than fast food or other animal based replacments.

Soylent’s innovation doesn’t stop with remagining meals but extends to the food industry at large. Rhinehart started with an idea to serve customers and ended up impacting the environment of food products on the way.

Earth’s population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050, and feeding that many people will require a 70% increase in food production.* With 38% of land already used for agriculture** and 41 million people in America alone struggling with food insecurity, finding solutions to our food access concerns cannot be ignored.

For those reasons, here at Soylent, we want to change the way people look at food. That’s why we are pro-science and pro-GMO. GMOs are a safe, economic option for sustainable food production, they cut down on food waste, time spent growing food, and resources used.

You can read more about what Soylent is, where to get it and why to drink it on their website. 

 

No Cow? No problem

Image result for daniel katz

Daniel Katz, 21; Founder of No Cow

Beginning in his teen years, Daniel Katz frequently involved himself in a number of business ventures. He sold a plethora of items, including electronics, cars, snakes, a house, and energy drinks. After all of those ventures, Katz finally found himself a business that boomed. In 2015 he founded the company that is now known as No Cow. What began as D’s Naturals transformed into a 10 million dollar business by 2017 and changed its name (to No Cow). His business offers low-sugar and dairy-free protein bars, cookies, and nut butters. After making 10 million dollars in 2017, his business is projected to accumulate 20 million dollars in 2018. Another sizable money-maker came from an undisclosed minority investment from General Mills, establishing that No Cow has made a big splash in the food industry. Additionally, Katz employs 12 people. His operation is, clearly, not a minute one.

What is inspiring about such an entrepreneur is, obviously, his very early success. At 21 years old, Daniel Katz has been able to start a business that would take most entrepreneurs years to accomplish. His persistence in pursuing entrepreneurial paths is phenomenal. That persistence is a testament to Katz’s work ethic. He told that the beginning stages of No Cow included 18 hour days, seven days a week for him. All entrepreneurs should know that if you want success, you must put in the effort to obtain such success. Daniel Katz put in that effort, and he is now reaping the benefits.

 

For more information on Danial Katz follow this link: https://www.inc.com/profile/no-cow

Kool Kidz Sno Konez

Brother and sister team, Jaden and Amaya, began a food truck business in the city of Memphis at age 12 and 11 in 2017. The duo began with a card table and extension cord for their blender in the front yard and enlisted some of their friends to help advertise on the street corners. The snow cones became a quick success, earning the pre-teens $1000 in just two summers. With the help of their mom, they bought a van off Craigslist and brought it up to food truck standards for the city. This made them the city’s youngest food truck operators and one of a mere 30 “true” food trucks on the streets. Their mother, a single mom and registered nurse, drives the food truck on the weekends and Amaya works the window. Jaden has plans for expansion into the future with the goal of franchising their snow cone business. He sees this as a way to work smart and not unnecessarily hard.

Kool Kidz Sno Konez was made possible by an ordinance created in 2011 making it easier to enter business in Memphis. The family took full advantage of this and are now working towards a franchise. Jaden and Amaya represent the entrepreneurial spirit and mindset. After their mother encouraged them to make money on their own so they could afford toys and other things, they took it to the next level. They didn’t settle for a standard lemonade stand, but reached for higher standards and now find themselves on a continuing entrepreneurial journey at age 13 and 12.

Strongest Coffee in the World

In America today, at least 50% of the population drinks some form of coffee. That’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 million Americans. Coffee is enjoying a lofty position in the hierarchy of mainstream trends. But coffee, having been consumed in the United States since its conception, is no trend. Coffee popularity is booming and so are the number of people supplying it. However, in a world dominated by Starbucks’ pricey lattes and Dunkin Donuts’ mediocre attempts to follow suit, as well as many others, how could a new coffee company ever stand out? By having the “strongest coffee in the world.” That is the motto of Death Wish Coffee Company. Death Wish coffee started as a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY, founded by Mike Brown. Mike created his own blend of beans and combined it with his own roasting technique to create his differentiated product. Progress was steady until Mike and his team won Intuit’s “Small Business Big Game” competition, landing them a 30-second commercial spot during Super Bowl 50. Since then their sales and business have grown exponentially. Death Wish Coffee were sponsors of the New York Comic Con, NASCAR, and the special Olympics, they event sent their coffee into orbit with the International Space Station. From their humble beginnings, Mike and his team have adapted and grown their product to disrupt their market through differentiation and will reap the benefits of their hard work, well into the future.

Love Coffee, Love People: Silk City Coffee

Silk City Coffee is a small local coffee shop, co-founded just two years ago by Rob and Sarah May. Married just a couple of years after graduation, the high school sweethearts had dreams of opening up a coffee shop someday, more as something they could do when they retired, but God had other plans. Rob had a passion for all things coffee, and Sarah loved to bake; this was the perfect recipe for a coffee shop, but starting from the bottom in their mid-twenties seemed far-fetched. The right connections were all that they needed, as it turns out. Their friends and mentors, Glenn and Tammy Gerhard, were willing to partner with them, and, through hours of prayer, the rest is history!

Silk City Coffee is a place where the residents of Manchester, CT can go to connect, enjoy coffee and fresh-baked goods, and even listen to live music. This coffee shop hit the ground running and is thriving after two years of business. On main street, Silk City Coffee is in a great central location on the town’s main street, where small businesses have been giving the town new life in recent years.

On the back wall of the shop is a bulletin board under a sign that says, “Love Coffee, Love People.” This is truly the mission of Silk City Coffee. The bulletin board is divided into two halves, one for needs that people may have, and one to display needs that have been met. Anyone who enters the coffee shop may write on a card a need they might have, from advertising a piano for sale to asking for prayers for a job interview. Those who write down their needs are encouraged to read the other cards on the board and attempt to meet one of the needs there. Cards with needs that have been met are then transferred to the right side of the board, and from there into a scrapbook when the board gets too full. This just goes to show how invested Rob and Sarah are in helping their community.

The bakers and baristas are always experimenting with new ideas for baked goods and seasonal drinks. I know this personally because I was privileged to work there all last year as a baker. It was truly an ideal job.

Zollipops – Alina Morse

9 year old Alina Morse loves sweets.  In 2014 she had this thought of making a lollipop that is good for you and also tastes good.  She had to research a lot and had help from her dad but they ended up creating a sugar-free lollipop that helps to neutralize acidity which means the bacteria that causes tooth decay cannot grow. The lollipops are both vegan and organic. Alina made $70,000 in sales in one year and she is now trying to get her Zollipops in dentists offices and schools everywhere.

I think that Alina saw that there was a big problem here and she was very motivated to fix it.  She has the right idea of reaching out to dentists and schools for this to be their candy of choice because that is where she could get a lot of revenue from and also she wants to these people making the healthy choice in their candy.  I also think that with more people having dietary restrictions in today’s society she can use those as a big push in her advertising. I think that she was very motivated in her love of sweets and health.

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Wonky Drinks

Karina Sudenyte and Maciek Kackprzyk are two young Welsh entrepreneurs who decided to tackle the left-over food and plastic waste problem with one business, Wonky Drinks. The social enterprise was created by the two at ages 20 and 23 with a successful crowdfunding campaign. Within a year, the two were buying ugly, but edible fruit at 70% of market price and bottling the unique juice in recycled glass bottles. In doing so, Wonky Drinks has prevented 175 tons of fruit from going to a landfill. The business’ main source of revenue currently comes from B2B sales with partnerships including Bank of America, HSBC and Merrill Lynch, KPMG, and caterer BaxterStorey. Moving forward, the company’s goals include giving more drinks to charity, reducing 10,000 tons of produce waste, and breaking into supermarkets with different canned drinks.

Karina and Maciek have won a Young Entrepreneur of the Year trophy at the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2017 for their work. During their childhood, Karina would help her mom sell household goods and Maciek would attempt to sell paper shoes to his neighbors. Maciek has now earned two masters degrees in law and Karina is focusing on earning a BA in Business Management. Their entrepreneurial spirit coupled with their academic achievements is a testament to the good that can be done when  natural creativity meshes with acquired knowledge. 

Grove Labs: The House’s Greenhouse

Meet Gabe Blanchet and Jamie Byron, cofounders and CEOs of Grove Labs. Those that live in the city tend to struggle growing their own food or finding locally grown and organic foods. This is because cities are so full of building after building that there is no room for anyone to make there own gardens or for farmers to use land to farm. Grove Labs is trying to solve this problem.

Grove Labs has developed a device that lets you grow fruits and vegetables hydroponically. The entire setup includes the hydroponic chamber and the mobile app that lets you keep track of the growing conditions. It will also link up to vendors to replenish your materials. Best of all the unit blends in to your kitchen decor and appliances.

Before they could even developed this amazing product they have had to raise funding, so they asked family and friends, as well as took part in the MIT Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator and raised $120,000 to help start there concept. After presenting at an event called R/GA’s demo day they raised another $2 million in funding. Since raising this money they have been able to set up their own office outside of Boston. They aim to manufacture in house on a small scale, but right now they are still in the product development phase. It is amazing to see the many new kinds of inventions that young entrepreneurs are coming up with and creating. Helping make solutions to current problems a reality.

 

Healthy Candy?

What if there was candy that was good for you? This question came to Alina Morse, the 12-year-old founder of Zollipops – a candy company that makes products designed to promote the health of your teeth rather than harm them. Alina got her start when she raised the question of healthy candy to her father, who encouraged her to do further research. After consulting with dental hygienists and candy manufacturers, Alina developed a lollipop with natural sweeteners such as xylitol and erythritol which allowed her candy to be sweet without being harmful to teeth. These sweeteners as well as other natural substances affect the pH of the mouth in such a way that bacteria and plaque are unable to form on the surface of teeth, promoting healthy teeth and gums.

After further input from her allergenic friends, Alina went to market with lollipops that were advertised as “sugar-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan, dairy-free, and naturally colored.” Morse was then invited to pitch to the investors on Shark Tank, signing an NDA on the terms of any deal she may have signed.

In just a few years, Zollipops have sold over $2 million in healthy candy, expanding their product line to include other items such as taffy. 10% of the profits are donated to oral healthcare education, keeping with the mission of the company to promote healthy smiles nationwide. In recent days, Alina has been working on expanding the product line further but is remembering to stop and enjoy her success.

Mr. Cory’s Sweet Idea

This is young man is Cory Nieves, he is now 14 years old, and he began his own business at the age of six.

One day Cory proclaimed that he was tired of riding the bus to school, and that he wanted to buy a car. Like every parent, his mother said to save up for own and buy one on his own. That is what he began to do. He originally started selling hot cocoa around where he lived and Cory’s mother noticed how dedicated and persistent Cory was and encouraged that he should begin raising funds for college. He then expanded his sales to lemonade and cookies.

Cory’s business is Mr. Cory’s Cookie and he has perfected the chocolate chip cookie recipe as well as other classic cookie flavors. He has moved his business online and has reached out to many major establishments such as Bloomingdales and Macy’s for publicity, as well as working with non-profit organizations like Children’s Aid Society.

Cory Nieves is truly a talented young individual with so much potential. He has a goal oriented and dedicated mine that is shown through how he began his career. All Cory wanted was to buy himself a car and if he can make a startup business from a child like wish the possibilities that he will accomplish in the future are grander and closer than Cory knows. We should harness such dedication in order to achieve our goals.

Mr. Cory’s Cookies Website