Kalene McElveen grew up on the east side of Detroit in a food desert. “Our closest grocery store was a liquor store,” she says. There wasn’t access to fruits and vegetables – and her family eats a plant-based diet. Needless to say, she learned how to cook at a very young age, being inspired by her grandmothers, her mom and multiple YouTube videos.
Fast forward to 2019, and Tastefull Vegan’s freeze pops are taking Grand Rapids’ Fulton Street Market by storm. By 2021, McElveen’s products, now including non-dairy ice cream, were in their first retail store. Five more were added in 2022.
“That was one of our biggest years,” McElveen says. “It was also the year we opened Michigan’s first dairy-free, gluten-free, allergy-safe ice cream shop.”
McElveen’s loan from Northern Initiatives helped her buy the building. Funds for the loan came from investments by Wells Fargo Open for Business and the Grand Rapids Loan Fund. Funding from the Michigan Good Food Fund helped her with equipment and working capital.
The shop, on Porter Street SW in Grand Rapids, sells the original freeze pops (try the Strawberry Lemonade), Magnificent Bars (vanilla coconut ice cream topped with salted caramel and dipped in dark chocolate sweetened with maple syrup), and sundaes that dreams are made of.
The shop is not only bringing delight to dessert lovers in Grand Rapids (one mother said it was the first ice cream shop her 8-year-old had ever been able to go to), but it’s also inspiring a neighborhood. The intersection of Porter Street, Wyoming Avenue and Lee Street used to bustle with grocery shoppers, barbershops, and pharmacies, until the malls and megastores moved in. Now, the neighborhood of Wyoming Park is seeing a revitalization.
McElveen is ready to grow Tastefull Vegan – responsibly. She is working on sustainable packaging and adding new desserts, but also wants to make sure she’s not biting off more than she can chew. She took second place ($2,000) in a Making it in Michigan pitch contest in spring 2023 and said in an interview, “I think the worst mindset for a business owner to have is to think that they ‘know it all.’ Continuing education is critical to long-term success and when we don’t know certain information it cost us time, money, and peace of mind.”
That’s where Northern Initiatives and its guided learning approach to technical assistance comes in.
With funding from the Fifth Third and PNC Foundations, Northern Initiatives Business Coaches are working with McElveen on business valuation and pricing, as well as hiring practices, plus utilizing resources in Initiate, the online learning platform available for free to all loan customers.
“I’m helping her interpret her current cash flow and trends, so she can make those strategic decisions about developing her business,” Kelly says. “We’re also going to work on projections for potential distribution channels; those are going to be critical.”
Kelly is also helping McElveen develop the Tastefull Vegan’s mission, vision, and values. McElveen wants to make sure her woman-owned, Black-owned business is a partner with the community. “We want to make health affordable – and taste good,” she smiles.
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