Williams Bay Contractor Michel Anagnos took a Mediterranean family recipe passed down from her grandmother and used it to start her own food manufacturing business.
Its product, Skordalia of Yaya, is a Greek almond dip made from plant-based products. The startup won the Peg Ann and David Gruber Project Pitch It Award, worth $10,000, this week on the latest episode of Project it.
“Plant-based eating is not a fad,” Anagnos said. “It’s here, it’s something we experience. You don’t have to give up taste or texture.
For the past five years, he’s been selling his Greek almond dip at Milwaukee-area farmers’ markets. Anagnos now hopes to expand the retail presence of its products. He makes and packages all of his dips – 13 flavors – with help from his wife and a longtime friend.
Based in Hartland Inclusion Coffee Company was this week’s winner of the Jerry Jendusa/UWM Lubar Entrepreneurship Award. Owner Mackenzie Edinger won a $5,000 cash prize, as well as support services including investment advice and mentoring from UW-Milwaukee’s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center and “BreakthruU.”
Inclusion Coffee Shop employs people living with various disabilities and aims to provide them with an environment that is both fun and challenging while mastering everyday skills such as cooking, money management and customer service. The store has around twenty employees.
Edinger initially thought she would become an early education and special education teacher, but found herself taking a non-traditional path to helping others.
“I teach, but in a different way,” she said. “We want to expand inclusion beyond just Hartland and Lake Country. »
Edinger hopes to purchase and renovate a mobile coffee cart to employ more people. Inclusion Coffee Company has a waiting list of 150 people looking for work.
Mequon entrepreneur Kishoree Boegel won the We Energies/DNA Award, which includes a $1,500 cash prize and at least one marketing mentoring session from a business leader.
Boegel opened his store Cocoa candy in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was upending the retail and restaurant industries as we know them. She believes she is still in business for two reasons: the quality and beauty of her chocolates. Boegel makes its products with chocolate from Barry Callebaut, purees and fresh fruit from Boiron and local farmers’ markets, and butter, cream and milk from Wisconsin dairy farms.
“I came up with every recipe, and it’s a labor of love, so I’m really proud,” Boegel said. “We only use the best of everything. It’s expensive and costs have increased.
She hopes to expand her physical footprint in Mequon to increase efficiency, as well as offer classes to the community.
The next episode of Project Pitch It airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on WISN-TV Channel 12 in Milwaukee. BizTimes Media is a media partner of Project Pitch It.
