EatOkra’s cellular app lists close by Black-owned eating places.
Courtesy: EatOkra
When Anthony Edwards Jr. and his then-girlfriend, Janique, first moved to Brooklyn in 2016, they struggled to seek out meals that was comfy and acquainted to them.
They explored their neighborhood, Edwards mentioned, however had a tough time discovering Black-owned eating places close by. There have been few sources for doing so moreover group chats and casual lists. So, with the encouragement of Janique, now his spouse, he used his laptop science diploma to create a platform for customers to seek out Black-owned eateries.
The 2 co-founded EatOkra, an app that now has 20,000 month-to-month energetic customers and introduced in about $700,000 in income in 2024.
“As we put it on the market into the world, we noticed individuals instantly gravitate and inform us frankly, ‘I have been on the lookout for an app like this,’ and we nonetheless hear this to this present day,” Edwards, EatOkra’s CEO and CTO, advised CNBC.
They weren’t the one ones. In 2020, Brax Wealthy was searching for a strategy to help Black-owned eating places amid the Covid pandemic. He launched Black Foodie Finder, initially as a social media area to spotlight eateries. Now, Black Foodie Finder has 1.3 million Instagram followers and spotlights eating places, cooks and recipes in its app.
“I feel our affect has been actually huge,” Wealthy, CEO of Black Foodie Finder, advised CNBC. “We might spotlight a restaurant, and the following factor I do know, the proprietor’s posting on social media, ‘Hey, the place did all you new guys come from?'”
Here is a have a look at how these platforms are showcasing Black-owned companies and Black meals professionals:
EatOkra seems to be to uplift impartial eating places
EatOkra co-founders Janique and Anthony Edwards.
Courtesy: EatOkra
EatOkra customers can seek for Black-owned eating places, caterers and meals vehicles primarily based on key phrases or proximity. About 20,000 companies throughout the U.S. can be found to browse in its database, together with their areas, consumer opinions, contact info and on-line ordering choices. EatOkra, named after the plant utilized in African diasporic dishes, additionally lists Black-owned meals merchandise in its market.
The platform provides two tiers for companies searching for to hitch the database: a free Lite possibility and a paid Plus subscription that gives extra options, on-line enterprise programs and extra space on the app for $9.99 a month. Edwards mentioned the Plus membership serves as EatOkra’s main enterprise mannequin.
EatOkra’s present companions embody catering firm ezCater and Pepsi Dig In, PepsiCo’s initiative to advertise Black-owned companies. It additionally collaborates with Apple Maps to assist produce native guides to Black-owned eateries.
Map function on the Black Foodie Finder app.
Courtesy: Black Foodie Finder
The corporate supplies sources on matters akin to advertising, provide chain and restaurant development, mentioned Jason Wallace, EatOkra’s director of enterprise options and a meals service educator.
“It has been precisely what the impartial restaurateur wants,” Wallace mentioned. “There is a mom-and-pop side that must be refined in order that they’ll develop these CEO talent units, these COO talent units that EatOkra brings to the desk. And fairly frankly, it is refreshing to the operator to know that they are not on the market by themselves.”
Ken Polk, govt chef and associate at Batter & Berries, mentioned the Chicago-based restaurant joined EatOkra a number of years in the past to spice up its visibility, particularly amongst vacationers who may use EatOkra to hunt out native Black-owned companies.
“I assumed the platform was ingenious, significantly these days we dwell in, the place issues simply get buried and it is very arduous to seek out one thing,” Polk advised CNBC. “It is a beacon.”
Edwards mentioned EatOkra’s efforts to construct a group for Black-owned eating places culminated in its Culinary Creatives Convention, which debuted in October in New York Metropolis. The one-day occasion caused 500 attendees collectively to construct connections, highlight distributors and talk about enterprise methods.
A panel at EatOkra’s Culinary Creatives Convention in New York Metropolis in October 2024.
Courtesy:
Essentially the most rewarding half, Edwards mentioned, was seeing individuals discover mentors and strike offers with different companies. He hopes to ultimately plan a multiday nationwide convention.
“This convention goals to be an incubator, be a catalyst for present and future entrepreneurs to return collectively — to get the schooling, to get the group and the networks they want,” Edwards advised CNBC.
Jeremy Joyce, founding father of web site Black Folks Eats, mentioned EatOkra supplies a platform for eating places that do not have the sources for advertising campaigns. He is found quite a few eating places by way of EatOkra, he advised CNBC.
“What they’re doing could be very impactful. As a result of I did the analysis, and there, on the time, was no different app who was doing what they had been doing,” Joyce mentioned.
Clark Wolf, founder and president of restaurant consulting agency Clark Wolf Firm, mentioned EatOkra’s rise comes at a second of elevated illustration and recognition of Black meals tradition. He cited the 2021 Netflix docuseries “Excessive on the Hog: How African American Delicacies Reworked America” and the success of James Beard Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi as examples of the rising curiosity.
“That is at a time when in American tradition, although there is a push towards it, we’ve got been acknowledging Black historical past, African American influences in meals and farming,” Wolf mentioned.
Nonetheless, challenges lie forward for EatOkra and the companies it helps. Wallace mentioned fluctuating meals costs, President Donald Trump’s push for extra deportations and client disposable revenue all current potential headwinds for impartial eating places.
“We’re nonetheless resolute in what we’ll proceed to do and who we’ll struggle for,” Edwards mentioned. “That is not going to alter.”
Black Foodie Finder fosters a food-loving community
Wealthy mentioned Black Foodie Finder is a one-stop store for all issues meals and beverage within the Black group.
Social media is Black Foodie Finder’s “meat and potatoes,” Wealthy mentioned, and it typically serves as a gateway for newcomers to BFF.
The discover cooks function on the Black Foodie Finder app.
Courtesy: Black Foodie Finder
“It is actually simply been a couple of group and, as we spotlight these individuals, ensuring we put them of their finest mild,” Wealthy advised CNBC. “I actually can say that is been the most effective return. It is sort of the key sauce.”
On BFF’s app, which has 75,000 energetic customers and about 15,000 restaurant listings, customers can discover close by Black-owned eateries in addition to profiles for native cooks and recipes for dishes akin to peach cobbler.
Heather Rose, CEO of restaurant consulting agency Black Ink Group, mentioned BFF’s highlight on cooks boosts companies by creating entry to the individuals behind them.
“It places you instantly involved with the one who is the artistic driver behind the enterprise,” Rose advised CNBC.
An attendee shows a beverage at Black Foodie Finder’s inaugural BFF Cookout in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sept. 1, 2024.
Courtesy: Black Foodie Finder
Black Foodie Finder has beforehand inked company partnerships, however its present main income supply is its BFF Cookout, a meals pageant in Memphis, Tennessee, the place the corporate relies. The inaugural cookout in September, with sponsors together with Clorox-owned charcoal firm Kingsford, caused 3,000 individuals to Tom Lee Park for meals distributors and musical performances.
Wealthy mentioned it was vital for him that the cookout appealed to everybody, from households having fun with kid-friendly programming to distributors receiving truthful compensation. The pageant will return this 12 months, he advised CNBC, and he is seeking to develop it.
“On the finish of the occasion, our distributors got here to us and had been like, ‘Wherever you go, I need to comply with,'” he mentioned.
Wealthy can be hoping to construct out BFF’s media presence. The corporate is at the moment wanting into producing brief reveals and video segments highlighting eating places, probably on tv.
Meals being served on the BFF Cookout in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sept. 1, 2024.
Courtesy: Black Foodie Finder
It is a part of Wealthy’s imaginative and prescient for Black Foodie Finder as a go-to area to spotlight companies.
“Many of the companies and the general public within the meals area, they’re consultants at meals,” Wealthy mentioned. “Generally, they simply do not have the platforms or help to develop. And so that is what we’re. We’re that help system.”
