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/1156964
Brianne Miller, founder and CEO, Nada Typically, entrepreneurs are prepared for success to come slowly, but Brianne Miller, 31, has made a difference in her community after just a year in business. She is the founder and CEO of Nada, a package-free grocery store and cafe in Vancouver, Canada. A marine biologist, Miller conceived of her 2,332-square-foot opera- tion after seeing plastic pollution in oceans worldwide, much of which was food packag- ing. Now, she's changing the way consumers shop for groceries. At Nada, customers shop for responsibly sourced foods with their own containers. Groceries are weighed at checkout, but shoppers are able to deduct the weight of their containers via the store's smart sticker system. Before filling their containers, they're encouraged to place a smart sticker on the container, tap the sticker, and weigh the con- tainer. At checkout, shoppers tap the sticker again to automatically deduct its weight. Nada only carries goods from suppliers working to heal the planet. "The businesses in the store must work with us to reduce waste in the supply chain, and nearly all our sup- pliers have a great social component," she says. Nada also hosts film screenings, panel discussions, and events, including a class on making toiletries and a "repair workshop," where people bring various broken, torn, or damaged household items to be fixed rather than discarded. Miller plans to make an even greater impact through expansion, by opening a couple stores in the next three to five years. "Most food stores send eight to 12 percent of inventory to landfill. We have sent 0 percent," Miller says.—R.K. Age: 31 Changing the way consumers shop for groceries with a package-free store Kendra Rasmusson, owner, Farmhouse Market Dissatisfied with the lack of local produce and organic options and wanting to control their daughter's epilepsy with wholesome food, Kendra Rasmusson and her husband Paul opened an organic market in their small Minnesota town that's so accessible, it's open around the clock. "I always wanted to be a mom but not give up a career," says Kendra. "I created a hybrid so I could always be with my kids and do something I love for my town." Kendra is on-site at the 650-square-foot Farmhouse Market store during the day, when both members and non-members are permitted to shop. After hours, Farmhouse Market's 275 members—who pay $99 for the first year's membership and $20 each year after—use a key card access system to enter the building and a self-checkout to purchase products. In addition to 24/7 shopping, members get 5 percent off every purchase, 10 percent off bulk purchases, and free use of the community room with Wi-Fi. So far, there has been no theft and the Rasmussons' daughter, Silvia, is thriving. The family, which has two additional children and a baby on the way, is showing no sign of slowing down. Plans are in the works for a prep kitchen that will allow for the sale of deli fare, a delivery service for elderly members, and an inn that will be situated above the store. "When people bring big town amenities to a small town, that's a point of pride," Kendra says, "you shouldn't have to give up anything to be in a small town in my opinion, you just have to do it differently."—R.K. Age: 35 Prioritizes local and organic food accessibility with 24/7 shopping concept PHOTO: FARMHOUSE MARKET PHOTO: AMANDA PALMER FALL 2019 31 12 under 35