MEET OUR 2023 RECIPIENTS

Falcon Heights – 3 Bear Oats, founded by Therese Moore, is a maker of heat and ready to eat flavored oatmeal bowls. Over the years, 3 Bear Oats has consistently offered four distinctive flavors sold in the frozen section - each a meal in its own. 

Grant Focus: increase productivity through the addition of an automated filling system   to speed up the process of filling the flavored oat blends into the bowls.

Le Sueur - A Tiny Homestead, is a farm south of the Twin Cities owned and operated by Mary Lewis since 2021. It supplies fresh produce directly to communities through a farm share subscription as well as through local grocery stores. 

Grant Focus: keep operations going and meet demand during the MN winter months, by building an additional heated greenhouse on the farm.

Moorhead - Doubting Thomas Farm is owned and operated by Noreen Thomas, with help from her daughter-in-law. The focus - grow whole grains that are made into cereal, pancake mixes, and other products. It is expanding beyond the Moorhead area.

Grant Focus:  improve packaging to be more competitive in a wider market, than just the immediate communities surrounding the farm.

Cottage Grove - Brand new Premiere Organix, founded by Olamide Olatunbosun, launch its new beverage called Eso this year.  Eso is a plant-powered shake made from water, tiger nuts, coconuts, and dates.

Grant Focus:  increase production and enable entry into key markets including e-commerce platforms. 

St. Paul - Grlk is a garlic-based sauce maker, with multiple flavor-blends. Based on Founder, Peter Chehadeh's  Lebanese grandmother’s recipe, this sauce comes in multiple flavors and blends.  

Grant Focus: commercial labeling machine that will automate the packaging process and cut  labor time.

Eagan - Kalahari Associates' two founders are driven to share their Peanut Brizzle - a peanut snack inspired by their Ghanaian heritage. The product is now sold at local events and markets. 

Grant Focus: nutritional labeling and other regulatory needs, as well as packaging design and printing.

Minneapolis - K-Mama Sauce makes vegan Korean sauces –by KC Kye. K-Mama produces multiple flavors that are sold in various stores, including a national retailer and online platforms. To maintain his lead, KC continues to get his brand out into unique (chance of a life time) venues that give potential customers a tasty preview.

Grant Focus: position the brand for higher sales and distribution by showcasing during the 12 days of the MN State Fair.

Roseville – Founder Charles Lovejoy started out as a bartender about two decades ago. Today, he makes his own line of Bloody Mary mixes and supplies bars, restaurants and retail stores throughout the Twin Cities, as well as various online platforms that help him distribute beyond MN.

Grant Focus: access tradeshows and   development opportunities to increase the founder and his team's business & industry acumen.

St Paul - Maytown Foods started 2022 by  Shan Colombus. Maytown produces chili sauce. The sauce can be found in a few Twin Cities grocery stores already. Shan hopes to grow beyond in the coming years. To do so means increasing her ability to produce more. She is working on her capacity to do this well.

Grant Focus: purchase small equipment to speed up the self-production process, including a commercial sanitizer washer.

St. Paul - Per Se is a ready-to-drink mocktail producer that launched in 2021, by Hally Turner who wants to enable gatherings where diverse tastes and preferences are celebrated. Its non-alcohol drink products are all natural with familiar ingredients and half the sugar. 

Grant Focus: support the process of developing a new flavor.

Dayton - Please and Thank You Granola (P&TY) is a 4-year company founded by Brit Williams. P&TY offers bags of granola mixes and pocket-size bars for the on-the-go in a variety of flavors and blends. Products are sold in local co-ops and neighborhood stores.   

Grant Focus: development, testing, and launch of a new peanut-free bar. 

Newport - Uprooted is a new coffee business started by Saengmany Ratsabout and Gao Lee. Uprooted roasts whole beans originated from Southeast Asia, a new region to enter the global coffee industry. Its products are available in bags of whole roasted beans.

Grant Focus: purchase commercial-grade grinder to add ground coffee to its selection; and also help with branding and marketing.

Falcon Heights -Rachel Banken of Well Rooted Teas crafts loose-leaf teas from foraged botanicals found on local farms and forests native to Minnesota. Its infusions of herbs, roots, leaves, fruits and berries nourish the body and are grown and harvested in a manner that preserve the environment too.

Grant Focus:  purchase a dry-pack filling machine to increase packaging process. 

Roseville – Founder Charles Lovejoy started out as a bartender about two decades ago. Today, he makes his own line of Bloody Mary mixes and supplies bars, restaurants and retail stores throughout the Twin Cities, as well as various online platforms.

Grant Focus: access tradeshows and   development opportunities to increase the  team's business & industry acumen.

Cottage Grove - Brand new Premiere Organix, founded by Olamide Olatunbosun, launch its new beverage called Eso this year.  Eso is a plant-powered shake made from water, tiger nuts, coconuts, and dates.

Grant Focus:  increase production and enable entry into key markets including e-commerce platforms. 

Minneapolis - Ooyoo is the creation of a husband-and-wife team, Ahreum Kim and Nick Ng. It is a representation their values around culture, family, creativity, community, and nourishment. Inspired by their travels and Korean culture, Ooyoo taps into new flavors and traditions to bring an all-purpose spread that everyone can enjoy. 

Grant Purpose: purchase equipment to help increase production capabilities

Minneapolis – Apasa means reciprocity/fellowship in Hindi – values that Founder Shalini Gupta draws on to shape the transparency and linkage between land, farmers and the food that sustains us. Maker of a flatbread free of toxins but also freshly made with whole grain stone milled flour and high oleic oil.

Grant Purpose: consultant work on product improvement and processing equipment. 

Minneapolis – Big Flower Botanicals Founders Jennifer Trebisovsky & Justin Banda seek to expand their CBD lemonade experiment to encompass more CBD food products. The goal - pairing products to pain to people with topicals, beverages and tinctures. They want to demystify CBD and help it become a resource for wellness.

Grant Purpose: source larger quantities of CDB ingredients and increase volume.

Roseville – Founder Charles Lovejoy started out in bars and restaurants as a bartender. Twenty years later – he has his own brand of Bloody Mary mixes - in multiple flavors and sizes for bars, homes and more. Honored last year as a General Mills recipient of their Good Works Project, LBMM’s products are not only good – they “do good” by donating proceeds to homeless youth and education. 

Grant Purpose: new product development (esp. flavor profiling, labeling, and packaging for the new product).

Minneapolis – Route to India’s ancient super seed snack (puffed water lily seeds), affectionately called Yoga Pops, is a labor of love, collaboration and passion for founders and life partners Nalini Mehta and Anita B. With a brand mantra of “Mindful Munching,” RTI aligns holistic, personalized wellness,  with Ayurvedic principles and healthy snacking. 

Grant Purpose: purchase equipment to strengthen and automate the production - increasing yields 6x more than current levels. 

Richfield – Social Mixers believe flowers don’t just belong in a vase and herbs are more than garnish. Its botanical syrups are blended to create perfect beverages for all occasions and health benefits. The goal: a natural craft beverage ingredient company with product lines that are accessible to all, and includes bitters, shrubs/drinking vinegars, and infusion kits of dried herbs and fruit. 

Grant Purpose: purchase 4-bottling hot filling machine to increase unit production 

Excelsior – Founder Henry Kisitu’s Jajja Wellness tonics originated in his Ugandan grandmother’s kitchen. She was an African herbal medicine woman, worked as a nurse, and knew principles of Chinese medicine. Today, Jajja Wellness has an expanded line of tonics, loaded with natural, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, the top sellers come directly from Grandmother’s and African indigenous recipes.

Grant Purpose: Secure co-manufacturing contract with a reliable co-packer in the Midwest region.