A tenant of the Grand Rapids Downtown Market’s incubator kitchen has opened a brick-and-mortar location.
Kalene McElveen, proprietor of Tastefull Vegan Frozen Desserts, graduated from the Downtown Market’s incubator program this month and opened a standalone dessert store on Monday, Might 30, at 2265 Porter St. SW in Wyoming.
McElveen began working within the Downtown Market’s incubator kitchen in July 2020 and launched her first merchandise on the Fulton Road Farmers Market in spring 2021. Since then, she additionally positioned her merchandise at a number of native grocery shops, together with Harvest Well being in 2021 and Forest Hills Meals, Bridge Road Market and Spun Sugar Detroit earlier this yr.
“The Downtown Market incubator kitchen gave me superior experiences, and it was the most secure place for an rising enterprise proprietor like me to begin and scale,” McElveen mentioned. “The Downtown Market offered low overhead prices, recommendation and a group of enterprise house owners who had been typically six months or a yr forward of me. They gave me invaluable recommendation on packaging, sourcing substances and extra.”
McElveen grew up as a vegetarian in a household that “would flip a mean Thanksgiving dinner right into a royal feast.” To accommodate her and her brother, Kalene’s mom made particular muffins in order that they didn’t miss out on the celebration. Her mom’s dedication to others impressed McElveen to launch Tastefull Vegan Frozen Desserts.
“Whether or not the meals restriction is by selection or necessity, no allergy or dietary selection ought to forestall somebody from having the ability to get pleasure from one in all life’s biggest joys — ice cream,” she mentioned.
Tastefull Vegan Frozen Desserts are freed from dairy, nuts, soy, gluten, eggs and refined sugar. The corporate makes use of Michigan maple syrup as a sweetener and a coconut or fruit base for many merchandise. The storefront in Wyoming will promote freeze pops, frozen dessert bars and gentle serve ice cream.
McElveen is a 2019 Begin Backyard 5×5 Evening winner. She used the $5,000 funding to begin Tastefull Vegan Desserts.
