Venture Concept No. 1

What is one thing that all people on this planet have in common?  Our need to feed ourselves.  Unfortunately in the college setting this is in the form of fast food and vending machines.  Many young adults today do not know how to cook or have very poor culinary skills, and their confidence/self-esteem reflects this.  How can we fix this in a world of frozen food, fast food, and convenience mindset?  Three words – The Food Pack- my product provides the consumer with the ingredients they need along with easy to follow steps (or online tutorial) on how to prepare home cooked meals.  They will learn and develop their culinary skills, build confidence in the kitchen, and be exposed to different cultures through their cuisines. I am certain that this product will be successful, and as a responsible, goal oriented, and organized entrepreneur myself and my team will make cooking an experience to remember!

Through research conducted, when given the choice students would rather buy their meals out (which is very expensive in the end) because they simply do not know how to cook.  Many reported that they do not know what goes well together, how to prepare meals, and some are even intimidated by the idea of just frying an egg!  Many of us often stick to what we know, and after a while making what’s essentially supplying our bodies with nutrients has become boring.  How awful is this?  Especially with being in a country that has a supply of fresh ingredients to choose from.  Do you know how lucky we are?  

We need to change this perceptive of looking at making our meals as a chore and rather see it as a way to improve and nourish our bodies while making an experience out of it!

The consumers I want to reach are mostly students between the ages of 17-25.  During this time young adults are living away from home in a new environment, their responsibilities have increased while their budget has decreased.  It’s fair to see why many resort to fast-food or poor quality processed foods, rather than homemade meals.  During this time frame students are making decisions, learning lessons, and developing skills to use for the rest of their lives.  One of those skills that students develop is cooking, as long as they give themselves the chance or opportunity to learn.  Without the basic knowledge of cooking they will be forever reliant on the restaurant chains around them, frozen and premade food, or the person they might live with. If one does not eat, they will not survive or be healthy, the same applies when a person decides on eating something unhealthy.

Today the grocery industry is far different than what it used to be in the 1940s.  A single grocery store sells all merchandise we need.  The market is ran by consumer demands, people are all about convenience but also want options.  We are slowly transitioning from the packaged food era to fresh food. In fact a major deciding factor in grocery store choice for 75% of consumers is whether or not the store has a produce department.  This department includes meats, seafood, local produce, and bakeries where they can see the processing and handling of products in person.   With a switch in viewpoints on the importance of having fresh ingredients comes along the need and want to learn how to prepare such ingredients.  This is where my product comes into play!

I am offering a product that contains all the fresh ingredients students will need to cook along with directions/video links on how to prepare the meal.  Within The Food Pack will contain the necessary ingredients to prepare a meal.  There is no need to go and buy 20 different items that you may only use a few times.  There are so many venues we can go with this product!  We can teach students how to cook healthy meals while expanding their culinary taste buds.  We can have lines for Indian, French, South American, African, Middle Eastern foods you name it!  Not only can they make themselves dinner or lunch but we could also have Food Packs for deserts, breakfast, and snacks.  Imagine they could make their own granola bars, crackers, and for breakfast they could even learn how to make Beignets from Café Du Monde!  How fun does this sound? Unlike other pre-made boxes that only focus on desserts or breakfast, The Food Pack covers it all. There will be options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert, and my personal favorite snacks.

Now that students have the ingredients in The Food Pack, the next thing they need is equipment to prepare their meals.  Our next venture is My Kitchen, the kitchen essentials set. Nothing's worse than not having the proper equipment for cooking. That's like showing up to a baseball game with a hockey stick. Sure you can improvise but it's not the same and your performance will reflect this.  I want to sell a box of all the necessary and must have cooking tools.  None of this broken up, buying separate items, let’s get it over with and give you exactly what you will need, the essentials! People will feel even more confident and more likely to want to cook.  Nothing's better than using your new set of knives that actually slice through chicken rather than mutilate them.  It will increase consumer loyalty, and we can have the tools color coordinated to make it easier for people following The Food Pack recipes.  For instance “To slice the chicken use the purple knife.  To chop the carrots use the orange knife. Sauté the green beans in the yellow pan”. 

They will carry the skills and techniques they learned from preparing meals with The Food Pack and My Kitchen. They'll gain confidence in what they are doing and continue to develop their skills.  Who knows they might then pass on what they learned to their children!