Tag Archives: food

Asulia at Whole Foods Charles River Plaza

I love living in The Bean. One of the things that I love about Boston is how accessible everything is, including grocery shopping. Off the red line at MGH, Whole Foods Charles River Plaza is one of the best locations to get everything you need.

I’m ecstatic that Asulia’s taro root, kale and chick pea dumplings are now available in the freezer aisle at Charles River Plaza Whole Foods!

When I used to work in the financial district, I would walk to Whole Foods Charles River Plaza at lunch time to pick up lunch and or groceries for my newest kitchen adventure. It was a treat to get out and escape from work and the gym, where I was indoors in a basement doing yoga. A lovely, well-lit studio, but I preferred shopping and lunching at Whole Foods instead!

In the past, when I didn’t know what to do with my vegetable obsession (#vod), I’d go to my happy place — the produce section — for inspiration and dream of a day I could make a career in food. Well, I’m happy and humbled to see it come full circle.

Thank you for your continued support. We have added lots of new stores to the list and we have some fun event coming up. Come say hi!

Summer Fancy Food Show


Above, pics I snapped along The High Line in Manhattan en route to Wong, the big apple’s first Asian restaurant to emphasize local and seasonal fare. The food was amazing! I highly recommend going if you love delis Asian food and supporting our local farmers.


Clockwise from left to right, whole raw lobster hand shelled using high pressure, whole grain vermicelli, black alkaline water, my new must have hot sauce! Just a small sample of products from the food show.
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Last week, I went to the Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC. Although I’ve been before, the sheer enormity of it is overwhelming each time. Food companies near and far from around the world were in attendance. I felt like a food nerd, in awe of all the brands I love, talking with the founders, and discovering new products that are coming to the market. I loved every minute of it, even if it gave me heart burn at times. One of our staffers came along with me to the show. One thing that has stuck in my mind is her comment about how she’s been paying attention to the people in the industry and noticing how nice they are. I can tell you from first hand experience that people in food are really great! I think creating food is a universal, fulfilling and relatable expression of creativity that also has the ability to evoke emotion, and it brings out the best in its creators.

Asulia is not ready to exhibit, but we hope to be soon! While I was looking, chatting, and, of course, eating at the show, I discovered a company with packaging all too similar to what we’ve been working on. This means we’re back to the drawing board. When I got back home, I immediately went to work and sketched out a bunch of new design layouts and sent them to our packaging designer. My obsession with aesthetics probably doesn’t help the cause, but I’m determined to make it beautiful and unique.

This means delays in other areas. Our crowdsource funding video can’t be finalized until the packaging design is complete. Launching a crowdsource funding campaign without finalized packaging is possible, but it’s far from ideal, so we’re going to wait until we get it right. When you launch, you need to be able to show supporters that your project is not just a figment of your imagination, but that it’s real. I also want to be able to deliver the dumplings to supporters right away, since the whole point is to get the project sent out.

Our permanent website has been coded, but the new revised packaging will also have an impact on the final site. As a result, we will not hit the launch button for our permanent home until the packaging is finalized, so we can tie it together with the website design and create a cohesive look and feel.

I recently came across Inc magazine’s videos you should watch before you start a business. I loved Simon Sinek’s comment about motivation that people “don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” I can’t wait to share my story when our permanent website launches! It’s the reason I get up every morning and push forward when people think I’m crazy for not switching to a shelf-stable product. I have no doubt that I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, right here, right now.

Entrepreneurs

I’ve been fortunate to connect with entrepreneurs who have been in business for many years. While I’m surrounded by foodie entrepreneurs who have made it, advice from other wise business friends has not gone in one ear and out the other ear. Being in the food industry is challenging. When I look at the numbers, a slight change can make you or break you. Here’s how I look at it though, if the only products that made it on the shelves was determined by the highest turning items say snacks for example, then there would never be anything new to discover in grocery aisles or at farmers markets.

I think I’m finally getting to a point of finalizing the logo. Production costs are higher than anticipated, but I’m focused on decreasing the cost of goods so the final retail price makes sense for buyers. It’s a fine line.  At least a wheat wrapper is now an option!