SPRING BLOG

The 2020 Ethnic Food Incubator: Guiding Founders Through Stages of Entrepreneurship

Ethnic Food Incubator Participants

There are many different ways to approach entrepreneurship, and each founder goes through a number of stages to grow their business. Every entrepreneur is unique, be it through their product or service, the motivation behind starting their business, their goals and definition of success, or where they are at in their journey.

The Ethnic Food Incubator, spearheaded by the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce and delivered by Spring Activator, is a pioneering program that has been designed to take a diverse group of food industry founders to the next destinations of their entrepreneurial endeavors.

The program, led by Spring Program Manager and food entrepreneurship expert Allison Gibson, is iterated upon in real-time to cater to the unique challenges and needs of each program participant.

A Tailored Experience for Each Founder

Through a combination of group sessions and 1:1 check-ins, the Ethnic Food Incubator takes into consideration the unique challenges each founder may face. This is to ensure they attain success corresponding to their individual business stages and goals. 

Regular feedback loops and priority discovery allow for the needs of each entrepreneur to be met. No matter which stage a particular founder is in, there is something to be gained from each session. From ideation and incorporation to launch and going mainstream, each stage of the food entrepreneur’s journey is covered. 

Along with being the first-ever incubator for Black food entrepreneurs, it is also the design flexibility and tailored approach of the program that define its pioneering nature.

Guest Speakers With a Focus on Mental Health

Personal check-ins with program participants also allow Allison as the Program Manager to gauge which experts to invite as guest speakers to best fulfill the needs of the cohort. Speakers have included Jacinthe Koddo of Tandem Innovation Group and Lisa Slater, a food marketing and operations professional with Whole Foods expertise who shared the ins and outs—from labeling recommendations to ingredients—of bringing food products to high-end grocery stores.

One of the program’s guest speakers has been involved in more depth to support the entrepreneurs through the challenge of balancing entrepreneurship with established professional careers and life during a pandemic. Joining in on 1:1 sessions, Nicola Brown, founder of Kokoro, is guiding participants through developing as leaders mindful of maintaining good mental health. Participants will walk away with valuable tools to maintain their well-being as entrepreneurs to be better able to achieve their goals and serve their communities.

Meet the Ethnic Food Incubator Participants

Nichole Nzegwu

Nichole Nzegwu

Craving is Served
A supply chain specialist at a medical device company, Nichole started her food business as a hobby turned side hustle. Originally from Nigeria, Nichole is a proponent of clean eating which is reflected in her baked goods, vegan granola, cereals, nut milk, and salad dressings. She is looking to understand growth and expansion models to take her food business to the next level and widen her network in the food industry. When not serving cravings, she loves to hike and travel.
Nwamaka Onyenokwe

Nwamaka Onyenokwe

116 Kitchen
An architect by education, Nwamaka is now busy designing fusion recipes with Nigerian spices and simple ingredients. Her product lineup includes ethnic sauces and spice mixes curated for those who aren't afraid to try bold flavors. Having tested her recipes and sauces at pop-up eateries, she is looking to understand how to enter the industry and increase outreach through different channels.
Jackline Ankomah

Jackline Ankomah

J&B Kelwells
J&B Kelwells, founded by Jackline and her father, was created to bring delicious and convenient Ghanaian food to the Canadian market. MAAKO – Hot and Tasty African Pepper Sauce is their premier product designed to fill a gap in the hot sauce market and provide the full experience of a pepper sauce. Jackline is focusing on diversifying her product lineup with other Ghanaian dishes such as Kelewele. The father-daughter duo wants to see their products sold in major grocery chains across the country and to bring an element of Ghana to Canada.
Janelle Jordan

Janelle Jordan

FusionFit Foods
Janelle is a nationally certified personal trainer and holistic nutrition coach, a lifelong fitness athlete, and self-confessed fit foodie! As the Founder of Fusion Fit Foods, Janelle is on a mission to help people’s daily bites be healthier and tastier, one delicious and nutritious snack at a time. Her signature adaptogenic, vegan protein bites made with Caribbean and Asian herbs and spices are crafted to take fellow fit foodies’ palates on a culinary adventure. Her focus is to build credibility, viability, and scalability for her products and make them more accessible through online and retail channels.
Mmabatho Mtimkulu

Mmabatho Mtimkulu

KLEENtea
Mmbatho has worn multiple hats in her career and her desire to bring high-quality nutrition to the masses led her to start her entrepreneurial journey with KLEENtea. With the experience of owning an organic grocery store in her back pocket, she is looking to supply her organic tea to hotels, cafes, and retail chains in Ontario. She is a big proponent of fair wages and sustainable packaging and that reflects in her ethically-sourced infused teas from Africa with recyclable packaging. She is looking to understand the screws and bolts of building a beverage business.
Anthonia Iveren Gom

Anthonia Iveren Gom

Street Food Wrld Inc.
Combining her love for street food and a burning desire to become an entrepreneur, Anthonia aims to popularise street-style food and drinks from different countries around the world. She believes that the magnetic power of global flavors is here to stay. She joined the program to build her venture into a viable commercial business. Originally from Nigeria, Anthonia calls the beautiful city of Manitoba her home now.

Muna Mohammed

Eight50 Coffee
Coffee growing is a trade that is woven into Muna’s DNA. To learn more about her heritage, Muna visited her family’s coffee farm in East Hararghe, Ethiopia. This visit brought life and colour to the stories that her father had passed on to her during her childhood. While in Ethiopia, she learned about the complexities of coffee farming and the impact big coffee supply chains have on farmer livelihoods. This experience empowered her to build a responsibly-sourced coffee brand and she started Eight50 in 2019. She is looking to work with mentors and industry experts in retail to help her scale and build Eight50 into a thriving coffee brand.
Keisha Harmon

Keisha Harmon

Dinaka Food & Drink
Keisha credits her grandmother for her love of cooking. Rekindling her childhood memories associated with flavors and using her hands-on knowledge, Keisha opened her catering business in Toronto in 2016. Her specialties include frozen Nigerian meat pies and Guyanese patties. She is looking to widen her product outreach and enter mainstream supply chain channels. Although cooking is her passion, Keisha sang professionally across Guyana and the Caribbean and also started her own videography business prior to migrating to Canada.
Tanya Mills

Tanya Mills

Sunshine T Catering Inc.
A love for cooking and food has accompanied Tanya since her early years. Born and raised in Toronto, she had a eureka moment when she realised she could turn her interest into a thriving business someday. A self-taught chef with expertise in fusion cuisine, she loves to blend West Indian, Canadian, and Asian flavours. Her favourite pastime is being in the kitchen and experimenting with creating new fine dishes. Specializing in delicious hand-made Afro-Canadian frozen foods, she is now looking for support in product and business development.
Onyii Adibe

Onyii Adibe

Gosiora Greens N Grains
With a solid background in public health, Onyi is now focusing on making organic, gluten-free and mostly allergen-free plant milk accessible for everyone. She is leveraging her African heritage to bring healthy flour alternatives from some relegated food crops to Canadian dinner tables. Onyi joined the program to map out her branding and marketing strategy while she charts out her product launch journey. She is looking forward to gaining insights on how to sell at retail chains and manage finances through the mentoring program, and she's also hoping to build a strong network.
Nadeisha Pinnock

Nadeisha Pinnock

Sweet Homage Confections
A mental health nurse with 12 years of experience, Nadeisha has loved to bake from a young age. Inspired and trained by her mom who is a professional baker, she decided to take the plunge and start her own food business focusing on desserts. Through this, she wants to share Jamaican treats and her love for other Caribbean islands with a larger audience. She is now focusing on scaling both in terms of product accessibility and her revenue model. Nadeisha hopes to see her products in grocery chains and in restaurants as she expands her small bakery.
Prudence Betty

Prudence Betty

PNB Caterers
A passionate cook hailing from Jamaica, Prudence has always had a love for the culinary arts. From her early days of baking cakes for her friends and loved ones to preparing delicious meals for her family, she has always strived to make memorable meals that spark joy. After a long career in banking, she is now embarking on a journey to explore what might be possible in the food industry. PNB Caterers is the first step in this journey, and she intends to use it as a vehicle for sharing her passion for food with the world. She wants to move toward selling in retail chains and aspires to gain the foundational know-how of running a food business.

Resa Solomon-St. Lewis

Baccanalle
A professionally trained, award-winning chef with an engineering background, Resa is passionate about leveraging her Caribbean heritage to bring authentic flavours to the Canadian market. Baccanalle is based in Ottawa and offers ready-to-eat meals, easy-to-cook meal kits, artisan foods, craft drinks, catering, and more. Currently operating with a restaurant model and widening the reach through farmers’ markets, Resa is looking to gain expertise in retailing, labeling, packaging, distribution, and building a strong network with fellow foodpreneurs.

A Thank You to the Program's Sponsors and Partners

This revolutionary program has been brought to life thanks to the generous support of: Sobeys, BDC, Retail Council of Canada, The Diversity Busines Network, Toronto Public Library, Black Female Funders, Uber, YSpace York University, Raven Luxury Events Inc., Royale Corporation, Food Prep, and International Food Store.

Follow Spring Activator and the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce to stay up to date on the Ethnic Food Incubator. To learn more about the program, reach out to Allison Gibson.

Rithu Jagannath
Rithu Jagannath

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