Boone Barr
Happy Mountain Foods is an all natural organic foods producer based out of Foscoe, NC. It is best known for the “Boone Barr”; an all natural energy bar made with no artificial ingredients or preservatives. In addition to 9 flavors of Boone barrs, we also produce trail mix and candied nuts. We currently sell our products in Earthfare and Whole Foods between Boone and Atlanta, as well as many other retail locations. In addition to retail locations, we believe an untapped market would be vending machines. We are writing this proposal to procure funding for a used vending machine. Our idea is to create healthy vending machines using our products, as well as other local food producers’ products being produced in the high country such as Kale Yeah!
Happy Mountain Foods is requesting any amount of funds from SEAM for the purpose of purchasing its’ first vending machine. Our company has found many used vending machines for sale in North Carolina between $800-$1,000. Ideally, our first vending machine would be placed on ASU’s campus near the Student Union or Library. If the vending machine is profitable, we would reinvest the money into purchasing more vending machines in other locations across campus. This would allow our company to sell directly to our consumers and therefore generate higher profit margins by cutting out wholesale costs. Furthermore, due to the close proximity, we could stock and service the machine ourselves. Looking forward, we believe our healthy vending machines (especially our products which are designed for active outdoor enthusiasts) would be perfect not only on college campuses or break rooms, but could be placed at all of the many outdoor tourist attractions in our area such as Linville Falls, Grandfather Mtn, or any other state park.
Our company believes healthy vending machines would not only help to grow our company, as well as other local snack food producers, but also give people healthy snack alternatives to your traditional vending machines with unhealthy candy bars and potato chips. We believe eating healthy is an essential part to a happy life and this project would help us reach our goal of changing the way people snack.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Happy Mountain Foods is requesting any amount of funds from SEAM for the purpose of purchasing its’ first vending machine. Our company has found many used vending machines for sale in North Carolina between $800-$1,000. Ideally, our first vending machine would be placed on ASU’s campus near the Student Union or Library. If the vending machine is profitable, we would reinvest the money into purchasing more vending machines in other locations across campus. This would allow our company to sell directly to our consumers and therefore generate higher profit margins by cutting out wholesale costs. Furthermore, due to the close proximity, we could stock and service the machine ourselves. Looking forward, we believe our healthy vending machines (especially our products which are designed for active outdoor enthusiasts) would be perfect not only on college campuses or break rooms, but could be placed at all of the many outdoor tourist attractions in our area such as Linville Falls, Grandfather Mtn, or any other state park.
Our company believes healthy vending machines would not only help to grow our company, as well as other local snack food producers, but also give people healthy snack alternatives to your traditional vending machines with unhealthy candy bars and potato chips. We believe eating healthy is an essential part to a happy life and this project would help us reach our goal of changing the way people snack.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
High Country CSA
The High Country CSA Winter Catalog connects High Country residents with local organic farmers and producers. As the only source of fresh, local food during the winter, the HCCSA Winter Catalog provides a necessary market for farmers and producers as well as consumers who want to continue eating local, organic, sustainably grown produce during the winter months. HCCSA follows the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, which keeps prices fair for customers while providing fair wages to our community farmers. We support small and beginning farmers, and require organic production.
The HCCSA Winter Catalog is accessible online at highcountrycsa.org/catalog (and is presently under revision for the winter season). Our website allows farmers to comprehensively manage inventory while customers compile custom orders, choosing from a variety similar to what is available at the Farmers’ Market (which closes for the Winter Season). We will open our catalog in the first week of December, after the Farmer’s Market closes, and we are presently engaged in marketing for the Winter 2013-2014 season.
Our Winter Catalog is a supplement to our summer season, which operates on a traditional CSA model: we work with a cooperative of local organic farmers; members purchase shares of the farmers’ harvests and pick up a weekly delivery of fresh-harvested, local organic produce. We offer three types of shares: the Garden share costs $300 for the season and provides 4-6 types of vegetables at a value of $15 a week, the Harvest Share contains 6-10 types of vegetables at a $30 value each week for a total cost of $600 for the season, and a Variety share which adds locally produced items like eggs, bread, cheese, hot sauce, coffee and jam to the Garden Share, at a cost of $600 for the season. We average between 80 and 90 members, representing thousands of dollars in sales for our farmers.
High Country CSA has a robust customer base who are very interested in supporting our local farmers and producers. HCCSA accepts payment plans, partial-season shares, and payment through EBT/Food Stamps. We offer discounted shares to low-income community members, so they can pay $5/week and receive $15 in local organic produce, and each year since we began offering the Cost-Share discount, a third of our membership has been supported by the Cost-Share. In previous years we have offered a 50% discount on Catalog orders for our Cost-Share members.
This year HCCSA is working with farmers and members to design a better format for our Winter Catalog. From farmer and member feedback we have learned that several improvements to our website will increase sales for our farmers and accessibility to members: accepting payments online, photographs for each item, and detailed item descriptions. HCCSA needs funds to hire a programmer competent in the programming language in which our website is written. We also need funding to help with our marketing campaign, and to continue providing the Cost-Share discount.
With your help, HCCSA can continue creating a local, sustainable and just food system for all.
The HCCSA Winter Catalog is accessible online at highcountrycsa.org/catalog (and is presently under revision for the winter season). Our website allows farmers to comprehensively manage inventory while customers compile custom orders, choosing from a variety similar to what is available at the Farmers’ Market (which closes for the Winter Season). We will open our catalog in the first week of December, after the Farmer’s Market closes, and we are presently engaged in marketing for the Winter 2013-2014 season.
Our Winter Catalog is a supplement to our summer season, which operates on a traditional CSA model: we work with a cooperative of local organic farmers; members purchase shares of the farmers’ harvests and pick up a weekly delivery of fresh-harvested, local organic produce. We offer three types of shares: the Garden share costs $300 for the season and provides 4-6 types of vegetables at a value of $15 a week, the Harvest Share contains 6-10 types of vegetables at a $30 value each week for a total cost of $600 for the season, and a Variety share which adds locally produced items like eggs, bread, cheese, hot sauce, coffee and jam to the Garden Share, at a cost of $600 for the season. We average between 80 and 90 members, representing thousands of dollars in sales for our farmers.
High Country CSA has a robust customer base who are very interested in supporting our local farmers and producers. HCCSA accepts payment plans, partial-season shares, and payment through EBT/Food Stamps. We offer discounted shares to low-income community members, so they can pay $5/week and receive $15 in local organic produce, and each year since we began offering the Cost-Share discount, a third of our membership has been supported by the Cost-Share. In previous years we have offered a 50% discount on Catalog orders for our Cost-Share members.
This year HCCSA is working with farmers and members to design a better format for our Winter Catalog. From farmer and member feedback we have learned that several improvements to our website will increase sales for our farmers and accessibility to members: accepting payments online, photographs for each item, and detailed item descriptions. HCCSA needs funds to hire a programmer competent in the programming language in which our website is written. We also need funding to help with our marketing campaign, and to continue providing the Cost-Share discount.
With your help, HCCSA can continue creating a local, sustainable and just food system for all.
Homestead Mushrooms, Inc.
Homestead Mushrooms was founded in Boone during the Fall of 2012 by us, Rusty Kuhfeld and Matt Webb. Our initial time was spent attempting to cultivate and grow gourmet mushrooms off spent brewery grain in order to find a more efficient use of this abundant resource that is currently being under utilized. This led us down the path of turning this hobby into a business. Homestead Mushrooms Inc. is the result of that and came from our desire to start a sustainable business that does both environmental and social good as well as being a profitable and fun venture. We started off selling Shiitake and Oyster plug spawn for log cultivation locally and online last spring. We soon were faced with a consumer demand that we had a hard time keeping up with. Ultimately these efforts generated over $4,500 of revenue in the Spring and Summer of 2013.
Homestead Mushroom Inc. will continue to grow and meet the demand for locally produced gourmet mushrooms and mushroom products. 2014 will be the year we connect with local farmers and growers to supply our products to those who wish to cultivate mushrooms. Most farmers lack the resources and knowledge to produce their own mushroom spawn but have the space, ability, and desire to grow mushrooms if provided the quality spawn required. The business ambition of Homestead Mushrooms Inc. is to supply the Boone area with gourmet mushrooms as well as empower farmers both regionally and nationally with the ability to grow this profitable crop by supplying them with the spawn and tools needed.
Our business already has around $5,000 worth of mushroom cultivation equipment including several large autoclaves. However, what is inhibiting our ability to utilize our equipment to the fullest and continue our business’ growth is the lack of a large HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter for performing sterile cultivation work. We have access to a small HEPA flow hood currently, however, the small dimensions of this hood greatly inhibits our process flow and is certainly not adequate to meet the expected demand of the 2014 mushroom growing season. A large HEPA filter is what we are seeking funding for from the S.E.A.M grant. This filter creates a sterile stream of air that allows the cultivator to work in a clean environment free of unwanted contaminating microorganisms. Culturing mushrooms free of any other microbiological contamination is crucial. If mold or bacteria contaminants are present, this will lead to catastrophic failure in the cultivator’s attempt to propagate mycelium and fruit mushrooms.
A 24”x 48” HEPA filter costs $435.00 with shipping and is the sole tool we are seeking grant funding for. Although we can benefit from many other pieces of equipment, this filter will increase our business’ ability to grow the smartest as well as allow for parallel growth of all farmers, growers, and business we service, supply, and consult.
Through the culmination of sales from spawn and fresh mushrooms, we have a revenue goal of $25,000 for 2014. We expect to meet this through expansion into different online and local markets. The market research we have gathered supports this revenue target and this HEPA filter will allow us to efficiently produce the volume of spawn and mushrooms demanded to meet this goal. Without a large HEPA filter our ability to produce our products is limited and the growth and revenue goal for 2014 is not practical.
We are both pleased and honored to be considered for this greatly beneficial grant for the high country. Thank you for your time and efforts that has made this grant possible.
Homestead Mushroom Inc. will continue to grow and meet the demand for locally produced gourmet mushrooms and mushroom products. 2014 will be the year we connect with local farmers and growers to supply our products to those who wish to cultivate mushrooms. Most farmers lack the resources and knowledge to produce their own mushroom spawn but have the space, ability, and desire to grow mushrooms if provided the quality spawn required. The business ambition of Homestead Mushrooms Inc. is to supply the Boone area with gourmet mushrooms as well as empower farmers both regionally and nationally with the ability to grow this profitable crop by supplying them with the spawn and tools needed.
Our business already has around $5,000 worth of mushroom cultivation equipment including several large autoclaves. However, what is inhibiting our ability to utilize our equipment to the fullest and continue our business’ growth is the lack of a large HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter for performing sterile cultivation work. We have access to a small HEPA flow hood currently, however, the small dimensions of this hood greatly inhibits our process flow and is certainly not adequate to meet the expected demand of the 2014 mushroom growing season. A large HEPA filter is what we are seeking funding for from the S.E.A.M grant. This filter creates a sterile stream of air that allows the cultivator to work in a clean environment free of unwanted contaminating microorganisms. Culturing mushrooms free of any other microbiological contamination is crucial. If mold or bacteria contaminants are present, this will lead to catastrophic failure in the cultivator’s attempt to propagate mycelium and fruit mushrooms.
A 24”x 48” HEPA filter costs $435.00 with shipping and is the sole tool we are seeking grant funding for. Although we can benefit from many other pieces of equipment, this filter will increase our business’ ability to grow the smartest as well as allow for parallel growth of all farmers, growers, and business we service, supply, and consult.
Through the culmination of sales from spawn and fresh mushrooms, we have a revenue goal of $25,000 for 2014. We expect to meet this through expansion into different online and local markets. The market research we have gathered supports this revenue target and this HEPA filter will allow us to efficiently produce the volume of spawn and mushrooms demanded to meet this goal. Without a large HEPA filter our ability to produce our products is limited and the growth and revenue goal for 2014 is not practical.
We are both pleased and honored to be considered for this greatly beneficial grant for the high country. Thank you for your time and efforts that has made this grant possible.
