Food & Beverage

Holmes Made Foods LLC and Holmes Mouthwatering Applesauce were established in Dec. 2008 by 15 year old Ethan M. Holmes. His vision of the product was an applesauce company that was “new” and “fresh” in the business. From many months of market research and years of observing, the conclusion was that majority of the applesauce products around the United States were not appealing to youth and had a bland sugary taste to most of their products. The plan was to make a product that was made up of every quality many applesauce companies lack, while still maintaining healthy, local and all natural ingredients.

Nana Kwamena Takyi-Micah arrived as a student from Ghana in 2010 to pursue a degree in management and a minor in entrepreneurship at Hiram College. He soon fell homesick and missed his mother’s home cooked meals including her versatile red sauce she used to cook with beef and chicken. He was selected by his professor to participate in the Entrepreneurship Immersion Week in August 2011. This birthed the idea of Supreme Sauce Marinade, a versatile tomato based product that can also be used as a salsa, a marinara and a cocktail sauce. He managed to raise $10,000 from his savings to launch his product in 2014. He soon began selling it in several grocery stores in the Cleveland area and won several pitch competitions including the Urban League Pitch competition in 2018 and the I-Corp Plus competition in 2019.

ComfortLA started as a late-night, pop-up restaurant taking a clean approach to soul food. We use locally sourced, fresh and organic ingredients and healthier cooking methods to create top-notch, Southern cuisine including " Cousin Kina's Mac ‘n’ Cheese," Clean Mean Greens" and our signature "Organic Not Your Average Fried Chicken" with “That Sauce.” ComfortLA offers a welcoming, laid-back ambiance bringing island vibes and Midwest hospitality to Downtown Los Angeles. ComfortLA is the brainchild of actor-turned-chef Jeremy McBryde and Business Strategist Mark E. Walker, and is all about building community. A part of our culture is serving "That Action," a way in which we interact with you that is warm, welcoming and family familiar. It's the feeling of being at your favorite relatives house for dinner. We are an electric mix of the downtown family, loft dwellers, pimps, hustlers, international travelers, students, artists, adventurers, bankers, entrepreneurs and entertainers holding down the spot.

Bees for Allergies? We are often asked how we got started with beekeeping. Our journey with bees began largely when we moved to Hunterdon County from Montclair, nearly five years ago. Zach, our youngest child, has asthma and suffered from very bad seasonal allergies, which naturally worsened when we moved to Kingwood Township and its rural surroundings. We searched for a number of remedies to alleviate his allergic reaction which significantly increased in the Spring and Fall seasons. We are always cautious about prescribing medicines for our children and often seek out natural treatments whenever possible, and decided to give raw honey a try. We read about the many benefits of local, raw honey and that honey can help prevent allergies through a concept called immunotherapy. It’s a process that strategically exposes your body to the element you are allergic to, which over time should make you less sensitive to it. In this case, raw honey, named this because it has not been filtered or heated, contains pollen and the body becomes more tolerant of pollen, thus reducing your allergic reaction. We noticed a huge difference in Zach’s allergies, and at this point, were frequents to the local beekeepers where were purchasing raw honey from. This led to our increasing curiosity about beekeeping and as a family, we would spend our weekends immersing ourselves in beekeeping books. After months of research and coaxing by our local beekeeping friends, we decided to take the plunge and officially start our journey as beekeepers BUT doing it the right way. No pesticides. No additives. Just PURE, RAW HONEY from bees that we value, nurture, and love. Nothing more. This has been such a wild ride but we don't regret one minute...