Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1017167
Atara Bernstein and Ariel Pasterneck, co-founders, Pineapple Collaborative "W e see ourselves as a brand that is rooted in online/off line communities," says Ariel Pasterneck, who co-founded Pineapple Collaborative in 2015 with Atara Bernstein. "Our objective is to provide a platform for women to express their style, identity, and values through food." Pineapple, as it is known colloquially, creates live events, digital content, and radio podcasts that focus on women and their interests in food. While Pineapple has no formal membership, Pasterneck and Bernstein consider more than 60,000 women to be part of the community based on their participation on social media, attendance at Pineapple events, or other activities. Digital media featuring high-quality content and photography is an important ele- ment of the Pineapple community, as evidenced by its "Pine for Pantry" blog series. "We hire women photographers from across the country to step into the kitchen and capture these blog posts for us," says Bernstein. "We're celebrating their work as well." Pineapple labels its online posts with the hashtag #pinefor, which ref lects the over- all mission of the community, Pasterneck says. "That is the idea—very much rooted in feminism—that admiring other women, women-made products, women-powered com- panies or movements, creates community," she adds. "Pining for each other brings about the world that we want to see, as women, as a community, as individual business owners trying to sell our products. We all need to pine for each other a little bit more."—M.H. 12 Under 35 Francesca Chaney, founder, Sol Sips F rancesca Chaney has become an entrepreneur at the intersection of two significant food trends—plant-based eating and access to healthy foods in disadvantaged communities. Chaney's interest in mindful eating began during her early childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., where her mother was a vegan who also brought to the table the culinary inf luences of Belize. Although she says she was allowed to eat whatever she liked growing up, Chaney became a vegan herself at age 18 and was committed to the idea of opening a cafe that pro- vided nutritious, plant-based foods for underserved communities in Brooklyn. She first launched Sol Sips as a pop-up at local events and within other venues. Then late last year Chaney opened what was meant to be a three-month pop-up cafe in a brick- and-mortar space in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood. She's been able to parlay that stint into a permanent location. "The menu is based on my personal background in wellness and health, and the healing properties of foods," Chaney says. "I wanted to feature foods that were filling, but healthy, and only used four ingredients or fewer." Chaney says she looks for ingredients that are soy-free and with low acidity. The cafe, which includes a variety of plant-based beverages, also offers plant-based "bites" such as a tamale-like dish from Belize called darasa, made with green bananas and coconut milk. And to ref lect her upbringing in Brooklyn, the cafe also includes a plant-based version of a New York staple—the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. Currently studying anthropology and health at Brooklyn College, Chaney says she hopes to have a career centered on the healing properties of food.—M.H. Ages: 27 and 28 Age: 22 32 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com