Business Description
paleyobakery is a gluten-and-grain-free baked goods manufacturer and distributor specializing in plantain-based foods, like “Yowaffles,” allergen-free Belgian-style waffles. My husband and I developed this recipe after I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and began an autoimmune paleo diet to heal. My story is not uncommon. About 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies, and even more suffer from autoimmune diseases. We believe real food is the answer.
Our company is committed to providing all customers with clean, wholesome, tasty food. From seed to sale, paleyobakery is food with a mission. Our products are free of gluten, grains, dairy, soy, wheat and refined sugar. Through our commitment to organic, sustainably-sourced ingredients, food justice and social good, our mission is to inspire others to feel love through food.
We currently produce “Yowaffles” out of a small non-profit commercial kitchen in Newark, NJ. We’re a tiny team with a big heart. We’re proud to be the first producer of plantain-based baked goods in the country with a “triple bottom line” philosophy to boot! We create job training for youth and formerly incarcerated folks, and we donate a percentage of our sales to culinary arts and nutrition programs in underserved communities.
Within the first month of launching, we had over 90 orders and made a profit! Our future plan is to start wholesale distribution of grain-free batters and dough to schools and hospitals. Of course, as a start-up, our greatest challenge is having sufficient capital to meet demand. We’ve been bootstrapping the biz from our personal budget, but, fortunately, have kept costs low by bartering for kitchen space and by rallying our friends and family to volunteer their time. Our next step is to secure a loan to make paleyobakery into a truly sustainable business.
What is the purpose of this loan?
I started paleyobakery 6 months ago, with several tasting parties and a pre-order launch. I have since experienced incredible momentum and keep saying, “Yes!” to every open door. paleyobakery now has an opportunity to sell our grain-free plantain-based “Yowaffles” at several farmer’s markets and to employ recently incarcerated men and women. A Kiva loan will help us to amplify our mission to feed people love through food, while “transforming the hustle” by creating meaningful job training opportunities in Newark, NJ.
A Kiva loan will help us pay living wages to: a part-time Director of Sales & Marketing, a crew of bakers from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development OJT (On-the-Job Training) program, and several high school and college interns to assist in our kitchen and at the farmer’s markets. The funds will also help us to purchase the necessary equipment to scale-up production and sell our products at farmer’s markets.
Specifically, we plan to use the majority of the loan to pay wages to our part-time Director of Sales & Marketing, to our crew of 3 OJT bakers and to 2 high school interns. The NJ State OJT program will subsidize half of the wages for formerly incarcerated employees.
We plan to use $1,000 for equipment: $500 for a portable freezer unit, $150 for a tent, $150 for a table cloth with our logo, $50 for a table, $50 for butane burners, and $100 to off-set market fees. We plan to use the remaining $1,000 to pay a gluten-free co-packer to produce 100lb. of our batter to use in production of “Yowaffles” for our market and wholesale customers.
Help us share love through food and transform urban lives by lending us some dough! Thank you in advance for your support!