Idea:
My idea is to create an artisan cpg baked good and food product development company based around the face of the brand Beneva Mayweather, America's Grandmother.
The founder's grandmother, Beneva Mayweather, was the head chef at the Memphis Hunt and Polo club. She worked her way up from salad girl to head chef and was encouraged by the members to start her own catering company.
In 1973 she founded Mayweather Catering. She specialized in creating fine Southern Cuisine from scratch for everyone from friends and family to the Who's Who of Memphis, TN and around the globe.
The catering business lasted for well over 4 decades even after Beneva passed in 2000. Her eldest daughter and business partner, Emma Mayweather Lincoln, took over the reins for another 15 years until her untimely passing in 2015. Ironically enough they each transitioned in the month of January just days apart.
I, being Beneva's youngest grandson, have always been around the kitchen from the time I was born. Upon graduating from White Station High School in Memphis, TN and being only one of only three grandchildren. I attended Morehouse College. Graduating with honors in 2003, I came back to Memphis and founded Beneva Mayweather Foods in 2008. I was inspired to return to Memphis after graduating for two reasons as follows:
1.) My aunt, and Godmother Emma Mayweather Lincoln, had raised me since the second grade. I wanted to thank my aunt and honor my grandmother by giving what I believed was a guaranteed successful idea in creating the Beneva Mayweather brand of food products based on Beneva's recipes that made her a culinary savant.
She had already written a cookbook to honor Beneva after her passing entitled, "Our Mother's Table: The Culinary Journey of Beneva Mayweather." I then decided that the perfect supplement to a cookbook would be actual products that all highlight and focus on Beneva while offering a business that could retire Emma and repay her for a seemingly unpayable debt when she took me in and raised me as her own son when she already herself had a son and a daughter, my cousins.
2.) Food is pretty much recession proof. I decided that if talents were good enough for some of these major firms as a new college graduate. Bringing my talents back to Memphis would be something most beneficial for my family, the city of Memphis, and developing my own entrepreneurial skills.
I returned to Memphis in January of 2004. I had to earn his stripes by starting from ground zero. Asmy aunt would tell him.I have book sense, but I did not have experience in the kitchen. So, I performed all aspects of the catering business from supply management to food prep, to cleaning industrial equipment, to customer service all in an effort to earn my experience.
In 2008 I launched my first food product. It was Beneva Mayweather's Chicken Seasoning. My plan was derived from my understanding of food which included three phases: Seasoning, Baked Goods, and eventually Frozen Entrees. All of these items would be and are based on Beneva's successful menu items. I feel the first thing people do after seeing food is taste it. Seasoning offered a means to establish this relationship with the market while also offering a low cost barrier to entry.
I got with a co-packer, and was awarded my first deal with the former Piggly Wiggly, now CashSaver, and the former Easy- Way. Between demoing the seasoning with hand cut chicken breast tenderloin nuggets with his little Fry Daddy at the handful of locations. I gained decent traction. I was also giving the product away to create traction as well. All of this was done out of the trunk of his car until November of 2010.
At that point I had landed a DSD distribution deal with Kroger in the local Memphis market. After two years of R&D to develop enough offerings to meet Kroger's requirements. I successfully pitched to Kroger in Cincinnati, OH and landed nearly all of the Memphis market. I drove from store to store dropping off product out of the trunk of his car. I had a successful run, but I ran out of money.
In 2012 I was forced to pivot into what bu my business plan called the second phase of development. The second phase was the baked goods line. I concluded that most people have bread with their meals. So, after I presented the market with seasoning. I then desired to give the market a complement to enjoy their seasoned item(s). Plus, I saw how Sister Schubert was cornering the market, and I always knew my grandmother's yeast rolls were one of the most popular items in her catering business which preceded Sister Schubert by at least a couple of decades.
I was seeking another co-packer for my baked goods line. I couldn't find a co-packer. I then took matters into my own hands.
My aunt and I were already using the same gutted out house in South Memphis, TN where Beneva founded Mayweather Catering to continue the catering business. So, I began baking cinnamon rolls and yeast rolls.
I cold called a rehab facility,LaPaloma, and a fine dining restaurant, Flight. Those were my first two accounts, and now there are over 40 different accounts covering three states.My customer mix includes food service outlets, convenience stores, grocery stores, direct to consumer, and corporate events.
The path has not been without the challenges that all businesses face. In 2019 the roof of the building his grandmother founded caved in. It forced me to move to a different facility, but with the growth came better equipment and better performance capabilities which allowed me to scale Beneva Mayweather Foods while also remaining artisan.
Beneva Mayweather Foods focuses on quality and a commitment to excellence. We do not chase profits. We chase being our best, giving our best, and making our best. The rest will work itself out.
The business model is B2B and B2C.
We service grocery stores, convenience stores, and food service outlets such as casinos and restaurants.
Our offerings includes these items as follows:
1.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Rolls 9ct.
2.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Rolls 12 ct.
3.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Cinnamon Rolls 7 ct.
4.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Cinnamon Rolls 9 ct.
5.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Cinn-A-Shots 8 ct.
6.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Cinn-A-Shots XL 1 ct.
7.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Roll Smoked Turke Sandwiches w/(1) mustard pack & (1) mayo pack (3 ct.)
8.) Beneva Mayweather's Homemade Gourmet Yeast Roll Smoked Brisket Sandwiches w/(1) Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (3ct.)
We make the rolls and cinnamon rolls in house. We don't use preservatives. We use real eggs. We use real butter.
We currently bake three days a week. We delivery 2 - 3 days a week. The production days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The delivery days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
The shelf life for each item is as follows
1.) 14 days ambient
2.) 14 day refrigerated
3.) 3 months minimum frozen
Sandwiches: 7 days refrigerated
The list of our customers are as follows:
1.) Diane's Gourmet Grocery (C-Store) - Little Rock, AR
2-8.) Superlo Foods (Grocery Store) - Spottswood, Quince, Winchester, Goodman, Lamar, Watkins, Covington Pike - Memphis, TN
9-11.) Castle Retail Group (Grocery Store) - High Point, South Point, CashSaver - Memphis, TN
12.) Miss Cordelia's (Grocery Store) - Memphis, TN
13-14.) H&A Investments Exxon (Convenience Store) - Union/Cleveland, Union/Pauline _ Mempis, TN
15.) Exxon Hop-In - Memphis, TN
16.) Crazy, Gander, Coffe Company (Coffe Shop) - Memphis, TN
17.) City Market ( Grocery Store) - Memphis, TN
18-21.) The One (Convenience Store) - Danny Thomas, Riverside, Poplar/Ridgeway, Craft Rd - Memphis, TN & Olive Branch, MS
22.) The Spot (Convenience Store) - Hernando, MS
23.) BP Nail Rd. (Convenience Store) - Horn Lake, MS
24 - 25.) Trap Fusion (Restaurant) - Shelby Dr, Trinity - Memphis, TN
26.) Winchester Farmer's Market (Grocery Store) - Memphis, TN
27.) Cordova Farmer's Market (Grocery Store) - Memphis, TN
28.) Buster's Buthcer Shop ( Buther Shop/Grocery Store) - Memphis, TN
29.) Humphrey's Prime Cut Shoppe ( Prime Steak Mini-Market ) - Memphis, TN
30-31.) Kangaroo Express (Convenience Store) - Whitten Rd., Stage Rd. - Memphis, TN
32.) 24-7 Express (Convenience Store) - Olive Branch, MS
33.) Polk Expess (Convenience Store) - Olive Branch, MS
34.) 302 Express (Convenience Store) - Olive Branch, MS
35.) The Little Store (Convenience Store) - Byhalis, MS
36.) Walnut Grove Market (Convenience Store) - Memphis, TN
37.) Macon Food Mart (Convenience Store ) - Memphis, TN
38.) The Mad Grocer (Grocery Store) - Memphis, TN
39.) Airways Express (Convenience Store) - Memphis, TN
40.) Curbside Casseroles (Take & Bake Retail Outlet) - Memphis, TN
40.) Federal Express (Corporate Account) - Memphis, TN
We have other Grocery Stores who have agreed to carry the product in the North, MS area from Byhalia to Tupelo. We have not serviced these stores due to resource limitation.
We also had a buyer meeting with the ownership group of 5 Sav-A-Lot stores in the greater Memphis area. The meeting was requested by Sav-A-Lot via our Memphis Business Chamber. We had a good meeting. We anticiapte being able to service those stores as well. We are also working to close with Food Giant that have 17 grocery outlets stretching from Memphis to Tupelo, MS to Jackson, TN. All of these locations can be reached in a days drive from Memphis. That way we can maintain the artisan manufacting standards, service these accounts, and grow the footprint.
We also have a introdcution meeting from a former member of the Hunt and Polo Club who remembered my grandmother. She reached out to me and she said she can introduce me to the ownership group of H-E-B. She made sure to tell me, "when I'm ready." That is why having the proper tools and resources at our dispsoal is mandatory to pursue such an opportunity.
I am a solo-prenuer at the moment. My efforts to bring in a staff proved to be unsuccesful. The team of 5 couldn't at minimum double the production I have been and continue to service myself.
The amount of 500K covers the cost of equipment necessary to bring in automation that will be required to avoid burnout from the team as well as meet the demands for these accounts without us having to use preservatives. We can either build from the ground up or lease. The cost for the ground up build is estimated, but the equipment costs are based on actual estimates. We plan on having $20/hour base pay for at least 2 employees and 1 driver.
As we expand we will have executive level rolls filled to oversee production quality and quotas, logistics, marketing, and sales.
We also plan on introducting a B2C concept which will allow us to reach consumer's direct. We have seen huge success at Farmer's Markets which gives us the opportunity to provide the product at its freshest as well as capture the lost margins that we are forced to extend to the wholesalers.
We feel through email market, SEO, and other strategies we can drive sales via direct delivery, delivery apps, or at our storefront.
Combining direct to consumer with B2B wholesale we feel is a lucrative and viable path forward especially if we are comitted to shying away from preservatives.
This concept can also set the foundation for locations all over the country that service the same customer type with B2C and B2B combined revenues driving profitabilty.
We anticiapte having a 24 hour function with baking. We possibly can make the storefront a 24 hour experience as well.
We want to have the ability to smoke our own meats in house for a more premium sandwich experience, and for the retail environment offer the same premium packaged meats which allows us to avoid needing USDA certification. We also aren't focused on processing meat for cpg market.
I believe in this brand, and I stand by our product. I look forward to working with you and honoring your investment.