Food Entrepreneurs Experience Report

My experience of the Food Entrepreneurs event-- which featured on its panel Scott Adams, Scott Kucirek, Lisa Murphy, and John Foraker-- consisted primarily of mingling beforehand rather than listening to the panel itself. First, I asked Director of Products and Operations, Caroline Yeh, about being interviewed for my group project on gender/sexuxality/identity and the food system. She said she was the only woman at that company, so that would be interesting!
I spent the next twenty minutes, at least, getting to know more about the Town Kitchen through its Chief Operations Officer, Tara Mutukisna. I had had a boxed lunch of theirs at an event last month about racial segregation in the restaurant industry. I learned that Town Kitchen keeps their food from spoiling between being cooked and reaching the customer-- who is often a corporate worker, since Town Kitchen currently depends on scale for efficiency-- by planning and

They answered one person’s question about the impact of a mission-driven business, with Murphy emphasizing that the impact of small, local businesses can manifest as larger companies taking one’s ideas. Foraker said he likes to consider what it would be like if organic agriculture was a bigger chunk of the food system now.
Panelists also gave advice to Yukte Oberoi, who recently started a business called YuhmBox to deliver healthy, locally sourced meals to families at their homes on weekdays. Adams advised her to have a strong story to sell and not do too much for the customer because the customer wants some hand in the process (as shown by the “cake powder” story that he referenced). Adams also shared a piece of wisdom he had heard, that a successful product or service should do one of two things-- either fit into the customer’s habit or into their aspiration of who they want to be. He told Oberoi, “you’re selling being a good mom.”
The guy who asked about business vs. environment (long-term vs.