My idea to start Garní Food Studio came after refusing to be limited by substandard sauce and stock options in the grocery store. I found that these fundamental kitchen elements lack transparency in terms of quality and origin of ingredients: too many preservatives, high sodium contents and made from concentrate. Stocks are sold in impractical containers for how the everyday consumer uses them. You use a little and toss the rest after it sits in the refrigerator for a few weeks, leading food waste and excessive packaging. That’s when I realized I could create a better product that produced less waste. And voila, Garní was born.
Developed societies are becoming increasingly aware of how our food purchases make far-reaching and lasting impacts on our planet. We seek out companies who choose to make earth-friendly decisions. Recent studies show that 32% of all food is wasted from farm to fork; with Garní Food Studio, I strive to be the change that others can stand behind.
Washington DC is experiencing a health-conscious, eco-friendly renaissance, and I knew I wanted to contribute to it by building a sustainable business in the nation’s capital. I’m grateful to have found a calling that combines my passions for sustainability with my love of creating delicious food for people. I know that Garní Food Studio will be able to educate consumers on how to be more mindful of how they buy and prepare food, while helping them reverse harmful waste-creating habits. Our stocks and sauces are just the beginning. Hopefully our consumers will take what they’ve learned from us and help move the ongoing food revolution forward.
This loan is special because:
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Business Description
The January 2015 edition of Cook’s Illustrated stated: “Chicken broth isn’t sexy like black truffles or trendy like pork belly, but in the test kitchen we rarely go a day without using it. As the backbone of much of our savory cooking, it appears in—at last count—586 of our recipes.”
With so many recipes calling for broth or stock, the consumer has limited options: Make it from scratch (who has time for that?) Purchase cartons made from concentrate (half of it will get tossed out) Reach into the fridge and use questionably old product (“Honey….does this smell funny to you?”)
Sauces tend to suffer a similar fate as do carton broths. We buy them in large quantities, we use half, and then they slowly migrate to the back of the fridge only to be found weeks later, totally unusable.
Garní Food Studio’s mission is to create fresh, frozen products with recognizable ingredients that are perfectly portioned for any meal. Our broths and sauces offer high quality convenience for our consumers while reducing food waste.
Garní Food Studios will initially launch 3 products : Chicken broth Vegetable broth Italian red gravy (a tomato-based simple red sauce)
Reducing food waste and giving back to our community are cornerstones of our business. Garní Food Studio is committed to re-using, re-selling and donating our usable food to local non-profit organizations.
What is the purpose of this loan?
$3,000We need space. This loan will grant our team access to a three-month membership to the commercial kitchen incubator at Union Kitchen Ivy City in Northeast Washington, DC. It’s the perfect community to help get our product off the ground, as they provide ample opportunities for distribution with their network of local and national retailers. We’re ready to be Union Kitchen’s next big success story.
$2,000 Packaging and branding will be key to the success of this product line because of the need to re-educate consumers when they’re walking down the frozen food aisle. This loan will allow our team to hire a reputable local branding and design agency to create beautiful packaging, labels, logos and a website splash page.
$2,000 Good ingredients are everything. This loan will be used to purchase ingredients to make the first rounds of sauces and broths.
$3,000 will be invested in purchasing frozen product packaging and equipment.