"Good Food for Good has a special sauce for success"/ "People are eating up fast- food fashion like hotcakes"

Nov. 1, 2019 "Good Food for Good has a special sauce for success": Today I found this sponsored content from Desjardins in the Star Metro:

Years ago, when Richa Gupta, 41, was working on her MBA, she resolved that if she were to start her own business one day, it would not only make a difference in her own life and the lives of her customers, it would also, she says, “be a force for good.”

Fast-forward to 2013. Gupta had spent several years marketing consumer products for a multinational food company. But she had a four-year-old daughter at home. And in spite of her busy work schedule, the Toronto woman longed to be able to feed her the kind of healthy food filled with fresh ingredients she’d grown up with in her native India.

“I started looking for options to make it faster and easier to cook,” she says. To her dismay, most of the alternatives on the market were “loaded with sugar and ingredients I wouldn’t call food.” So Gupta came up with her own recipes for a line of sauces that “add flavour to food, without compromising on quality.”

The result was Good Food for Good, a maker of ketchup, barbecue, Mexican and Indian sauces. Sold in 1,500 stores in Canada and 200 in California, Gupta’s sauces are made with simple ingredients you’d find in your own kitchen. 

“They’re all organic,” she says. “There are no additives or preservatives and no added sugar.” Gupta’s ketchup, for instance, is sweetened by a single date, compared to conventional brands that contain about four grams of sugar per tablespoon — more than the sugar in a cookie.

But for Gupta, creating a nutritious product was just the start. She also wanted to make a dent in a bigger problem. “Right now the world is producing more food than we need to feed the overall population. The only reason people still go to bed hungry is distribution of wealth.”

She wanted to do her own small bit to even the score. Influenced by TOMS Shoes’ buy-one-give-one model, Gupta adopted the same strategy. For every bottle of Good Food For Good sauce purchased, she donates a meal to families in need. 

“I’ve given away about 250,000 meals so far, accounting for about four percent of revenues,” Gupta says. 

She works with Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-profit that serves meals to school children in India, as well as Food Banks Canada and Foodbanks California.

Now, thanks to a successful pitch on CBC’s popular Dragons’ Den television show and a surprise $70,000 donation from Desjardins through their GoodSpark program, Gupta expects that number to rise substantially.

Gupta’s commitment to supporting those in need struck a chord with Desjardins, Canada’s largest financial cooperative. The GoodSpark program is designed to help entrepreneurs with a social purpose, and the buy-one-give-one model adopted by Good Food for Good nicely fit the bill.

Dragon Lane Merrifield points to Gupta’s model as an excellent example of social entrepreneurship in action. 

“If you’re going to be a successful social entrepreneur,” he says. “It has to be part of the DNA of your company from the very beginning.”

For Dragon Michele Romanow, who made a joint offer with Manjit Minhas for a piece of the company, Good Food for Good’s social mission sets it apart from its competitors in the marketplace. 

“Good Food for Good not only has a killer product that tastes delicious, they’ve tied it with a social mission to cut through the noise and built a really great brand,” she notes.

For the past six years, Good Food for Good has seen revenues double annually. 

With the help of Desjardins’s GoodSpark donation, Gupta believes she can continue to grow and make a real impact on the hunger problem.

 “The whole idea of being a social enterprise is that, as the business grows, so does the giving part,” she says. “Our goal is to feed 1 million people by 2020.”

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20191102/281638192006974

"People are eating up fast- food fashion like hotcakes": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps in the Star Metro:

When most people go to Mcdonald’s they walk away with a Big Mac, Mcnuggets or a tummy full of fries. But lately consumers have been buying up products from the fast food giant that are far from edible — and they’re lovin’ it.

In recent years, the U. S. brand behind the golden arches has been releasing apparel, including Big Mac speckled onesies, pillowcases, rain boots, dog coats and duvets.

Its latest foray in Toronto — sold at the Drake General Store to raise money for Ronald Mcdonald House Charities and promote new delivery options — featured an $85 “sleep sack” that resembles a Mcdonald’s bag, a $75 hooded blanket that looks like a burger bun, $15 earbuds and $8 playing cards.

Mcdonald’s isn’t alone. Popular fast-food franchises from Taco Bell to KFC to Pizza Hut, are cashing in on consumers craving the next “it” thing and using apparel as a way to tackle stagnating growth and the increasing competition of dining out.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/starmetro-toronto/20191101/281736976252724

My opinion: I wouldn't buy clothes that advertise fast food.  I like fast food, but not that big of a fan.