Andrew Chmielewski is a foodpreneur, running a small toffee company called
Dave's Sweet Tooth. Cory Wright is a restaurateur who ran his own restaurant in New York City before recently moving back to Metro Detroit.
The two friends came together to start a new venture called
Mitten Crate. The Royal Oak-based firm sends a package of Michigan-made food products once a month to people who subscribe to the service.
"It is a great way to be introduced to Michigan-made products," Chmielewski says. "They might not be able to pick them up at a store otherwise."
Chmielewski and Wright noticed that while Michigan-made food products are quite popular with their local audience, that sphere of influence is often limited to about a 30-mile radius of where the company is based. Mitten Crate helps Michiganders overcome that barrier by introducing them to a handful of new products each month.
"There is a wide range of products," Chmielewski says. Some of those products include
McClary Bros. Old Timey Drinking Vinegar (Ferndale) and
Al Dente Pasta Co (Whitmore Lake).
The company got its start in August. It sold 70 boxes in its first month and 144 last month. Chmielewski expects to see those numbers to continue to grow exponentially in the near future.
"We hope to have triple-digit growth going into the holidays," Chmielewski says.
Source: Andrew Chmielewski, co-founder of Mitten Crate
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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