A Farmer’s Market At Your Fingertips
Yumzar.com is using a online marketplace to invest in their community
It was the coldest winter in 35 years and snow accumulation hit record highs. You may have seen the news last winter speckled with images sending a chill straight to the bone. For most of us, this sounds like an opportunity for lamentations. However, for a former web designer, a grocer, and a business architect this was a grand opportunity.
“Steve, Michael and myself are Minnesota friends that simply LOVE going to the farmer’s markets and supporting local food Makers. But it was a tough winter and it just seemed like people needed more accessible options to support local on a more regular basis. Our solution was to make local products available online and ship them to your front door,” explains Abbey Smalley, one of the founders of Yumzar.
When the proverbial lemons landed on the doorstep of these tenacious Minnesotans, Abbey and her friends Steven Lauder and Michael Otto decided to start a glorified online lemonade-stand – Yumzar. Yumzar.com is a cutting edge artisan/farmer’s market at your fingertips.
“Yumzar makes buying and gifting online easy for the first time. Not only is it something you can do from the comfort of your home no matter the weather, but you would literally have to drive around the entire state and go to more than 10 farmers markets to get the same amount of variety that we are able to offer on our website. We think that’s really exciting!” says Abbey.
The Yumzar team moved their idea quickly into action. After just 60 days of meeting makers, tasting their products, and ideating, they had their business up and running.They sold their first round of inventory to invest upfront in their Makers. This allowed those individuals to put money back into their businesses and provide faster shipping methods for their first buyers.
Yumzar’s approach is highly local — community & people are central to their mission. Their goal is to ultimately invest in the community of local food producers they serve and to share the stories of the people behind each of their products.
Sharing these stories is exactly what Yumzar wants to do as the next step in their business. “The food is hands down some of the best we have ever tasted, but the real passion behind this project comes from the Makers we work with. Every one of these Makers is an innovator in their own right. They push hard everyday to make their dreams become a reality. Some have left very stable jobs to pursue their dreams,” reflected Abbey as she spoke on what makes her the most passionate about this business.
The Yumzar team recently launched a campaign to BarnRAISE $6,000 to bring on 6 new Makers and to tell each of their stories through a series of short documentaries, “We are looking to spread awareness of these amazing Minnesota Makers. If funded, this will allow us to bring on a total of 6 more Makers and start the creation of mini documentaries that will help share the unique stories of our Makers, how their products came to be and where their ideas and passion come from.”
One of those Makers is Susan Brown, the brilliance behind Mademoiselle Miel, a beekeeper and chocolatier who gathers the honey from the rooftop hives of Saint Paul to make distinctive honey bon-bons. Another isMrs. Kelly, who mixes and dries her own specialty teas by hand. Both of these food entrepreneurs are featured in Yumzar’s campaign video.
“It’s hard not to get excited about the unique talents of our Makers. It makes us proud to be a part of the same community, and we know their stories are worth sharing,” shares Abbey.
Barnraiser is the community powering the food movement, one project at a time. Our mission is to put a billion dollars into the hands of food innovators as they reshape a healthy food world. Join the movement and bring us your projects! Contact us: projects@barnraiser.us
