Community Kitchen Spotlight: Arizona Tofu Company, Bubba's Bitters and Nut Juice
The faces behind Arizona Tofu Company, Bubba’s Bitters and Nut Juice.
Local First’s Community Kitchen has been an important channel for food entrepreneurs across the Valley. The Kitchen is a magical place—it blends food, community, and entrepreneurship. You can imagine there’s always something delicious brewing in the kitchen! Arizona Tofu Company, Bubba’s Bitters, and Nut Juice are some of the more recent entrepreneurs to come through the kitchen. These businesses are forging ahead and bringing a new kind of deliciousness to the food scene.
The Kitchen is also finding new ways to help get its entrepreneurs out into the community, like at the Ahwatukee Farmers Market.
Arizona Tofu Company
Willem and Clark Furlong, a father and son team from Gilbert, are bringing tofu to the table with Arizona Tofu Company. Tofu is a high source of protein, iron, and magnesium and is a total flavor sponge! This makes tofu an awesome ingredient to work with and an easy, protein-rich, meat-free addition to your recipes. Both Willem and Clark are familiar with the food industry; Clark is a farmer and Willem has worked on the restaurant scene. Sustainability is an important element to Arizona Tofu Company’s business plan; their goal is for the company to be zero waste by the end of 2021! Willem and Clark put a lot of love and work into their product; the whole process takes about ten hours. You can get a taste of their tofu at Chilte Tacos, who uses Arizona Tofu Company tofu for their vegetarian offerings, or you can get it delivered from their website to make your own tofu dishes!
Bubba’s Bitters
Bubba’s Bitters make drinking even better. Their bitters give master mixologists, beginners, bakers, and chefs an opportunity to add something new and exciting to their recipes. Their bitters replace artificial flavors and preservatives with delicious local ingredients; it’s a win-win! One of the owners, Casey Wilson, used to be a bartender and loves the social atmosphere of the bar scene. If you do, too, then Bubba’s Bitters is something you have to try. It’s a great way to elevate your party-hosting game and help your local food community. Their flavors include lemon rosemary, lavender cardamom, lime leaf mint and a variety of seasonal options. You can find them on Facebook and online.
Nut Juice
Nut Juice was created when founders Melissa and Kylie were looking for an organic dairy alternative without all the additives and gums. Both Melissa and Kylie share a love and consideration for animals and advocate for the more humane treatment of dairy cows. They also have a concern for the number of additives, gums, sugars and colors that are found in many of the dairy-free alternatives found at the grocery stores. At the Mesa Community Kitchen, they make small batches of almond, cashew, and oat “Mylks” from limited and organic ingredients. They also make flavored mylks like Strawberry Oat, Matcha Cashew, and Agave Sweetened Almond. Find them at the Gilbert Farmers Market on Saturdays and Desert Ridge Farmers Market on Sundays. While you’re at it, check out their really cool t-shirts!
Kitchen Partnership with Ahwatukee Farmers Market
Local First Arizona has partnered with Ahwatukee Farmers Market to provide two-week residencies for new entrepreneurs who want to begin selling their products at a Farmers Market. This gives the entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn what it takes to set up a booth, point of sales processes (or merchant services), marketing materials, getting their sales pitch together, promoting on social media, and building a customer base. After their two-week residency is completed, the entrepreneur can choose to continue with a booth at the Ahwatukee Farmers Market at the agreed-upon fee. Since the Ahwatukee Farmers Market happens on Sundays, entrepreneurs can also apply at other Farmers Markets scheduled for other days of the week. AZ Tofu and Bubba's Bitters have both had successful residencies at the Ahwatukee Farmers Market.
Make your Food Dreams a Reality
If you’re an aspiring food entrepreneur looking to take your food game to the next level and want to learn more about Local First Arizona’s Community Kitchen Program and all our services to help you make your food dreams a reality, visit: https://www.localfirstaz.com/community-kitchen.