Archive for Food – Page 12

Trash to Cash – Wonky Drinks by Karina Sudentye and Maciek Kacprzyk

Posted by crowleyjp18 
· Sunday, September 16th, 2018 
· 4 Comments

Karina Sudenyte, a 22 year-old BA studying for a BA in business management, and Maciek Kacprzyk, a 25 year-old with two masters degrees in law co-own an extremely environmentally conscious fresh juice business, Get Wonky. Their aim is to cut down on the astronomical number of fruit thrown away into the garbage. The fruit and vegetables used are not viable for the produce markets because they are “defective”. Get Wonky takes produce from the growers that would otherwise be unusable due to being misshapen or discolored and makes them into a desirable product. They do this by juicing and bottling the “defective” produce using Grandma’s recipe in 100% recyclable glass bottles and sustainable catering pack to reduce plastic waste.

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I really appreciate this young company because they center their business practice around environmental sustainability, which the marketplace is in desperate need of. Their mission is to “Give wonky fruit a chance”. More specifically, they aim to produce delicious drinks, support growers that can’t shift wonky produce, reinvest all profits into saving more fruit, and reduce food and packaging waste.

https://youtu.be/2qBRATOAib0

4 Comments
Categories : Food, Recycling, Sustainable, Uncategorized, Youngest Entrepreneurs

18-Year Old’s “Fresquiticos” Soda Innovation

Posted by SchlosserCJ18 
· Friday, September 14th, 2018 
· 6 Comments

A bright Stanford freshman is ready to tackle the world with her new idea. Nicole Birkner of Costa Rica is an 18 year old entrepreneur making her dream a reality with her new business “Fresquiticos.” Growing up, Nicole was only allowed to drink soda on weekends. So during a Sunday beverage she began to wonder, “What can I do to be able to enjoy soda on week days?” She began experimenting with local Costa Rican fruit juices and sugars and began to develop all-natural recipes for making homemade soda. She had invented fruit juice soda, with Costa Rican fruits, carbonated spring water and agave nectar for a much healthier sweetener.

During her junior year, her teacher organized an entrepreneur-esque class of developing a project over the course of six months. This would be the perfect stage to showcase her idea. With research taking the form of a 45-page essay, and countless experimenting to concoct 50 bottles of soda, Nicole received 100% grades from all judges at the final presentation. From this encouraging result and success, Nicole went on to compete in “The Diamond Challenge for High School Entrepreneurs.” It was here she worked with her colleague Diego Uribe on the project to prepare for the Challenge. Along the way Nicole decided that 10% of the profits would go to her own “Youth in Motion” program in Costa Rica to fund the foundation extracurricular activities for public schools in her country. Also she decided to use recyclable glass bottles for the sodas to reduce waste.

Nicole plans to begin distributing her product in Costa Rican schools where soda is not allowed. She is hoping to provide a healthier alternative to soda, that is all natural and tasty. She is in contact with supermarket chains in Costa Rica and some retailers in the United States. Nicole has even spoken at TEDxPuraVida in Costa Rica.

Nicole gives a motivating quote; “Ever since I was young, I would hear people complaining about everything, but they would do absolutely nothing about the problems. I want people to see me changing things and want to change things themselves.”

For full interview, check out Marie Griffin’s article at  Hatchpad: http://www.hatchpad.co/blog/nicole-birkner-founder-partner-fresquiticos

6 Comments
Categories : Food, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Youngest Entrepreneurs

There’s an ‘I’ in Popcorn—or There is Now

Posted by Benjamin Gillette 
· Friday, December 8th, 2017 
· 4 Comments

Pipsnacks is a company founded five years ago on the premise of reimagining snack foods. Founded by brother and sister Jen and Jeff Martin, Pipsnacks’ main product is Pipcorn. “What is Pipcorn,” you may ask. Well, simply put, it is miniature popcorn. While the hulls of Pipcorn are thinner, and therefore easy to eat and digest (not to mention get out of your teeth), the product is also gluten free, non-GMO, vegan (except for a particular flavor which has ghee, a milk product), and whole grain.

Pipsnacks has gone from selling their product in brown paper bags to a successful online company, and have had a number of achievements, ranging from being on Oprah, starting a mini-factory, getting funding from Shark Tank, and getting on shelves in retailers like Target and Costco.

4 Comments
Categories : Food, Millennial Entrepreneurs

The Budlong

Posted by BrodnickiJF17 
· Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 
· 2 Comments

Phil Benner is an entrepreneur involved in more than one business endeavor. In the restaurant business, The Budlong is one of the startups he worked on. The Budlong is a series of hot chicken restaurants that has four locations in the busy city of Chicago. The idea for the Budlong came from Jared Leonard, who tried Nashville fried chicken at a barbecue conference. Realizing how big of a market a city like Chicago could offer for good, hot fried chicken like this, a team brought the idea to life. With the first store opening in 2016, they already have four restaurants in the city. With four levels of spiciness, naked, classic, hot, and x-hot, the delicious (trust me, it’s delicious) chicken appeals to a wide crowd. The good location and great food come together to make this business unique.

2 Comments
Categories : Food, Restaurants

Alina Morse – Zollipops

Posted by kettingerjw17@gcc.edu 
· Tuesday, November 7th, 2017 
· 5 Comments

For those of you who love candy but hate the dentist, this product is for you. Confronted with the same dilemma, Alina Morse was only seven years old when she used $7,500 from her grandparents to design a product and start a company with the help of her father. This product was a lollipop sweetened without the use of sugar, but instead: xylitol, maltitol syrup, beetroot juice and stevia.

Within just a few short years, Alina was selling her product on Amazon and in stores such as Whole Foods. She has pitched her idea on television, and, due to her healthy food initiative, Michelle Obama even invited her to visit The White House twice and making her candy the only one at the annual Easter Egg Roll.

Alina says that she loves her product, travelling all around the world to share it with others, and watching it “brighten their smiles.”

5 Comments
Categories : Food

Foodtoeat.com

Posted by Katheryn Frazier 
· Monday, November 6th, 2017 
· 2 Comments

Deepti Sharma is the founder of Foodtoeat.com. She is 27 years old and double majored in political science and business. Foodtoeat.com specializes in a service were people pre-order food from immigrant communities. The site was beta launched in 2011 and actively launched in 2013. Sharma got the idea when she was waiting in line for 20 minutes one day for food. The benefit to Sharma’s service is that people do not have to wait in line for food. It also allows food owners to engage with their customers, increase their business, and have a define amount of orders placed. Restaurants and vendors sent Foodtoeat.com their open hours so that customers can only order from restaurants/vendors available at that very moment. When customers order, an email is sent to the restaurant/vendor and the restaurant/vendor must confirm the email. Foodtoeat.com charges a 10-cent fee per transaction. 700 restaurants and 50 food carts are involved in the enterprise.  The service relies on customer feedback. The service is concentrated in New York City, but Sharma looks to integrate this service in New Jersey, Connecticut, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. She also looks at developing an app for the service. Sharma had previous knowledge in the field with her food management and hands on experience in the food industry. Foodtoeat.com employs six people for marketing/sales and four people technology people in India. Foodtoeat.com also works with many interns and relies heavily on social media to advertise. Sharma is a great entrepreneur because she has combined technology and multicultural food together to best serve restaurant owners and consumers.

 

 

2 Comments
Categories : Food, Uncategorized

Gabe Blanchet and Jamie Byron—Grove Ecosystem

Posted by raabeej1 
· Friday, October 6th, 2017 
· 1 Comment

the grove ecosystem launches a kickstarter for its indoor garden a27a4805

Gabe Blanchet and Jamie Byron were roommates and seniors at MIT. Both were concerned about one of the most threatening problems that we as humans face on this earth today; global food unsustainability. As this was frequently on his mind, Jamie decided to build a DIY aquaponics prototype in the room he shared with Gabe, capturing the attention of many visitors of their room. This prototype would eventually become the idea for a brand called Grove Labs. Grove Labs is a company that produces nearly self-sustaining indoor aquaponics gardens in your home. One such product is the Grove Ecosystem, capable of growing substantial yields of vegetables and herbs, frequently up to a salad per day. The entire fertilization, filtration, hydration, and feeding system is contained within the area of a single bookshelf, utilizing an aquarium of fish and LED lights to allow the plants to grow. Since its inception, Grove Ecosystem has raised nearly half a million on Kickstarter.

Gabe and Jamie’s story is interesting, because it shows how something unique can be created out of passion for a particular subject. In this case, they felt strongly about food sustainability, and brainstormed a product that can answer many of the problems in this subject by creating a self-sustaining home ecosystem. In addition, I appreciate their innovation with this product, as they have taken two concepts (the home and the garden) which are inherently separate and distinct, and merged them into something greater that they are passionate about.

 References:

https://inhabitat.com/amazing-grove-aquaponic-ecosystem-can-grow-you-a-salad-every-day/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/the-grove-ecosystem-launches-a-kickstarter-for-its-indoor-garden/

 

1 Comment
Categories : Food, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Recycling, Sustainable

Entrepreneurship In Africa

Posted by kettingerjw17@gcc.edu 
· Thursday, October 5th, 2017 
· 1 Comment

With an  initial investment of $100,000 and a drive to give Nigerians greater access to healthy food, Affiong Williams founded the company ReelFruit which has now grown to a size of seventeen employees and is providing services to 80 stores in Nigeria. ReelFruit suppplies dried fruit which is dried and packages by the company in the capital and distributed throughout the country. Williams says that she saw a lot of potential in the field (using her own money and that of her family to initially back the venture). She was also altruistic in her goal of providing much needed jobs in the country, and has clearly been successful thus far.

Image result for reelfruits nigeria

Williams spoke to the difficulty of introducing a new product to the agriculture market. She certainly had some apprehension as ” the [agriculture” sector primarily is obviously more complicated than people anticipate. I think there are so many issues with the, sort of structural issue with the sector so for any sort of I think success, it will take a lot of planning and understanding and also a lot of technical understanding.

William’s most inspiring entrepreneurial trait is her is her determination. This is especially helpful when combined with her keen ability to see problems or holes in the market and find a solution. She remarks that she saw a hole in the market and was determined to exploit it, and she has. In reading about her experience in entering the agriculture sector, the most significant thing I learned was the ability of every sector of the market whether agriculture or computer science is very intricate, complicated, and filled with technology- all of which must be understood to be successful in that sphere.

1 Comment
Categories : Agriculture, Food

Kutoa.com – Feeding the Hungry Made Easy

Posted by baileyaa1 
· Sunday, September 24th, 2017 
· 2 Comments

Kutoa’s birth was pretty simple, actually – Joey Grassia saw a problem, and he used the resources he had to create a solution. I’ll explain.

In 2007, Grassia was struck by the severe malnutrition and sickness he witnessed when he traveled to South Asia. A few years after that, he had a health scare of his own, due to his diet filled with additives and preservatives. In marrying these two problems he encountered, he came up with a solution for both. Kutoa (Swahili “to give”) is a website that sells gluten free, sans GMO health bars with no added sugar or preservatives. The best part? For each bar sold, one is given to a hungry child. Having just started Kutoa in 2010, Grassia has already driven it to deliver 1 million meals to children in need.

One thing that Grassia has been very intentional in doing is inviting the consumer not just to buy a health bar, but to be a part of this global change. Kutoa.com connects with its consumers through its blog, which can be found on kutoa.com. The blog highlights various individuals, organizations, and schools in the community that are doing their part in fighting hunger both locally and around the world. Scrolling through the reviews for their health bars (among which you can find Chocolate Espresso Bean, Blueberry Almond, and Cherry Cashew), it is obvious that Kutoa’s consumers are ecstatic about finding a health bar that is truly healthy, and being able to make a tangible difference in an easy way.

Perhaps one of the most driving factors in Kutoa’s success has been Grassia’s mindset towards entrepreneurship. He believes that someone doesn’t need to have loads of experience in the business world to make an impact. He or shes just needs have to have an experience. Grassia’s happened to include a life-changing trip and a new diet. In the “Our Story” page of Kutoa.com, Grassia challenges his audience to take a look at the experiences they’ve had, and figure out how we can turn those into ideas that will improve our lives and others’. “Please,” he writes, “always remember that each of us have the power to make a difference.”

https://kutoa.com/

2 Comments
Categories : Food, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Online Companies, Social Entrepreneur, Websites

Zollipops: The Lollipops That Clean Your Teeth

Posted by livolsivr1 
· Wednesday, September 20th, 2017 
· 1 Comment

At just 7 years old, Alina Morse saw a need to be filled while in line at the bank. The bank teller offered her a lollipop, but Alina refused because her parents always told her that sugar was bad for her teeth. Exasperated, she later asked her father, “Why can’t we make a lollipop that’s actually good for your teeth?”

From that moment on, the two started working on what later became known as Zollipops. Alina’s father helped with $750 of the startup cost and Alina saved up her money until she had enough to start the company. The whole family participates in running the Zollipops company, and Alina calls herself the “idea person.” She uses her imagination to come up with new products and flavors.

Not only are Zollipops sugar free and made with natural ingredients, but they are also beneficial for your teeth. The company has further expanded to offer Zolli Drops (comparable to hard candy) and Zaffi Taffy. All of these products are held to the same standard of good ingredients that are safe for dental health. They are available in a variety of flavors from mint to assorted fruit flavors.

At such a young age, Alina was able to see a gap that may only be seen from a child’s perspective. I admire the responsibility she demonstrated in caring about dental health, and her desire to provide a way for children to enjoy lollipops without all of the damaging ingredients. Her perspective challenges me to look for gaps I may not see in my daily life since I am no longer a child.

Alina exhibits a drive and passion for her company, and I believe that is one of the reasons why she is successful. She cares about her product because it was a personal “pain” she felt and so she did something about it. I strive to have the perceptiveness in recognizing and solving the pains and inconveniences I encounter in my everyday life.

1 Comment
Categories : Blog, Food, Great Ideas
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