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Responding to a fundamental calling, Denise Woodard became a visionary in a $2 billion industry. Her Calling Woodard was looking to find a solution to help her daughter who had various food allergies, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. She was searching for snacks that would help her daughter but ultimately started creating her own recipe for cookies made without wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, soy, fish, sesame and shellfish — launching vegan company Partake Foods in 2016. Woodard saw great promise in her products and believed others would too. She received checks up to $10,000 from family and friends through a Kickstarter campaign to scale the business into Whole Foods and Wegmans, she told Forbes. “I was cobbling together $5,000 and $10,000 checks to keep the lights on, from anyone who would listen,” she told Forbes. “The dribs and drabs were not enough, so I sold my engagement ring. But we were seeing traction, which led us to raise our first institutional round.” A...
Rilwan Lawal is enhancing the lives of gig workers. Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, since the age of 1, the entrepreneur and founder was accustomed to self-starters. Both his mother and father were entrepreneurs who owned several businesses. “I don’t think I grew up seeing anyone around me waking up and getting ready to go to work,” Lawal, 33, told AFROTECH in an interview. “I feel like everybody around me had their own thing going on. And it was ingrained in me that at some point, I would be doing something on my own.” He added, “My mom is the ultimate entrepreneur. I witnessed her start multiple businesses and saw it come to fruition. That has been very helpful. My dad was also an entrepreneur in the real estate space. So just seeing both sides, and being able to execute on just an idea and bring it to life, really gave me that positive thinking that I could essentially just do anything.” When Lawal was 17, he left his family to pursue higher learning in the United States. He was...
BLK & Bold, a Des Moines-based Black-owned coffee company, has announced a multi-year partnership with the NBA, just in time for the playoffs. The Des Moines Register is reporting that the specialty coffee and tea brand — which was founded by Rod Johnson and Pernell Cezar in 2018 — first began its expansion efforts when it became the first Black-owned coffee company to get a national distribution contract with Whole Foods Market. BLK & Bold is currently available in 31 different Whole Foods Markets across the Midwest region. It also has its own Amazon storefront, and is available at select Target locations, as well. But this new agreement that the company has with the NBA is very different. Under this partnership, Johnson & Cezar will “co-brand, co-market and collaborate” with the league for the development of new products. “The Warm Up includes a blend of coffee beans from Ethiopia and Central America and is described as having a fruity and caramel flavor profile. Each purchase on...
Kahawa 1893 founder Margaret Nyamumbo isn’t just a coffee entrepreneur — she’s someone who knows her history, too. “When it comes to the coffee industry, Kenyan coffee is the crown jewel,” she told AfroTech. “And, of course, there’s the history of coffee and how it was originally grown and developed in Africa — and migrated to South America — and how I wanted to pay homage to that history. Most important, though, I wanted people to experience the full beauty of Kenyan coffee — its uniqueness derived from the soil, which gives it its flavor, acidity, and sweetness.” AfroTech recently shared how the history of coffee in America has been distorted to nullify the Black influence on the drink that has become a common staple for the average working American, and how Black farmers are starting to reclaim their place in the market while paying tribute to their history. Such, as it turns out, is also the case in Kenya, of which Nyamumbo is a native. Born on a coffee farm — her grandfather...
This Black couple is taking their food talents to a store near you! Chicago natives Perteet and Fred Spencer used their love of sharing great meals with family and friends and turned it into a business through their very own food company, AYO Foods. “Nothing inspired us more than using our strong industry experiences to create these moments for others by sharing some of our family’s favorite recipes that were under-represented in mainstream grocery stores,” The couple told Black Enterprise . AYO — a Nigerian term for joy — and the two founders are ecstatic to announce that they have partnered with Whole Foods Market to share those excellent homemade recipes with the world. AYO Foods’ frozen meals are now available in select Whole Foods locations that include Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma aside from their current availability in Chicago-based grocery store, Green Grocer. “Frozen was a natural fit as an easy way for people to experience the flavors of West Africa,” the...
Last year Partake Foods, a Black-owned vegan cookie company, landed rap legend and business mogul, Jay-Z, as a prime investor . This year Partake has secured yet another star investor, singer H.E.R. According to Black Enterprise , the popular songstress invested an undisclosed amount in the gluten-free company’s new funding round. “We are so excited to welcome our new investors,” said Denise Woodard, Partake’s CEO and founder, in a statement according to Black Enterprise. “As a fan of H.E.R’s music, I also admire how she supports Black-owned businesses and uses her platform to fight for an end to systemic racism. We look forward to having her on board.” H.E.R’s investment is backed by her love of the company’s brand values and story. “Not only are the products delicious, but I love the story and inclusive values behind the brand. I am excited to partner with Partake, and help to grow and support their business,” H.E.R. said. Woodard admits that the growth of the Black Lives Matter...
As the pandemic redirects business models and disrupts financial platforms, many small businesses are taking a hit, but one Black-owned business is thriving and reaching new heights in its distribution endeavors. Blk & Bold, a specialty coffee company, announced a distribution partnership with Amazon and Whole Foods Market. According to Black Enterprise , Blk & Bold proclaims themselves to be the first-ever Black-owned coffee and tea company that is nationally distributed. “The seemingly overnight shift of the retail landscape and store operations have no doubt impacted the flow of emerging brands entering and expanding in the market. This is also why the alliance with Whole Foods and other key retailers continues to showcase the support and belief in Blk & Bold as a coffee brand,” co-founder and CEO of Blk & Bold, Pernell Cezar told Black Enterprise. Blk & Bold coffee has a plethora of options to choose from, including a Rise & Grind medium roast, BLK & Bold dark roast, and a...
Amazon may shake up the brick-and-mortar store industry once again by opening 3,000 cashier-less Go locations by 2021, according to Bloomberg. The company’s aggressive plan puts convenience store giants like 7-Eleven and CVS at risk. The plan is in line with Amazon’s 2016 buying of Whole Foods in 2017. Since purchasing Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, Amazon has implemented a grocery delivery service in the stores for Amazon Prime users in an effort to target competitors like Instacart. Amazon opened its first Go store in Seattle in 2016. The company has since opened another store in the city and in Chicago. More Amazon Go stores are also slated to open in San Francisco and Chicago by the end of this year and into early 2019.