瞄準(zhǔn)吃貨的創(chuàng)業(yè)點(diǎn)子:快遞美食
????都是美食頻道惹的禍。電視里的美食頻道以及它們的觸手已經(jīng)把當(dāng)個(gè)美食家的概念從無聊的烹飪節(jié)目中拓展出來,轉(zhuǎn)變成了豐富的娛樂探險(xiǎn)活動(dòng)。要不是這樣的話,那就怪以全食超市(Whole Foods)為代表的提倡健康和本土化飲食的養(yǎng)生食品運(yùn)動(dòng)吧。總之無論是什么緣故,“美食旅游”(culinary tourism)正在蓬勃發(fā)展。十年前,人們幾乎不會(huì)討論這個(gè),而如今,根據(jù)世界旅游美食協(xié)會(huì)(World Food Travel Association)的估計(jì),這已經(jīng)是一個(gè)價(jià)值高達(dá)1,500億美元的產(chǎn)業(yè)。 ????然而,不是每個(gè)人都能負(fù)擔(dān)得起美食節(jié)目主持人安東尼?波登那樣的生活的。由凱特?沃洛托瓦和大衛(wèi)?福爾特建立的初創(chuàng)公司Try the World,現(xiàn)在可以將外國食品從遙遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)送到美國境內(nèi)的顧客家門口。這家位于紐約的公司從今年開始營業(yè),不斷把價(jià)值45美元的各種食盒送到用戶手中。(用戶可以單獨(dú)購買某一食盒,也可以包月訂購。)公司的第一個(gè)食盒是來自巴黎的情人節(jié)食盒,每個(gè)能掙1美元。食盒在兩天之內(nèi)售罄,從那時(shí)起至今,Try the World已經(jīng)運(yùn)送了成千上萬個(gè)食盒了。 ????這家公司利用了一個(gè)食品商店才剛剛開始意識(shí)到的趨勢(shì):美國人對(duì)品種的多樣化如饑似渴。沃洛托瓦表示:“顧客開始要求越來越精致的生活。如果他們想喝咖啡,他們希望那是巴西出產(chǎn)的;如果他們想要香蒜沙司,他們會(huì)希望那是意大利進(jìn)口的?!?/p> ????如此一來,通過食盒,好奇的美食家們就能嘗試其他烹飪風(fēng)格炮制的食品,而不必親自去到那里。Try the World的食盒都由當(dāng)?shù)氐摹拔幕笇?dǎo)”準(zhǔn)備,他們是希望讓自己的產(chǎn)品走向美國的大廚或食品業(yè)的專家,通過將當(dāng)?shù)氐牧餍惺称放c相關(guān)背景信息糅雜在一起,讓顧客知道食物的來龍去脈。比方說,巴黎的食盒中包含一顆來自政府法定控制產(chǎn)區(qū)的栗子,一袋來源于卡瑪格(Camargue)地區(qū)的手工鹽,還有法國連鎖商“茶宮”(Palais des Thés)的茶葉。 ????沃洛托瓦表示:“我們想要營造出一種氛圍,就像有人正在旅行,并給你帶來了當(dāng)?shù)刈畎舻漠a(chǎn)品。”公司與國外品牌合作,在食盒中囊括的食品上獲得了相當(dāng)?shù)恼劭?,因?yàn)橛性S多國外品牌也想開發(fā)美國市場(chǎng)。 ????Try the World已經(jīng)開始提供來自法國、日本、巴西、意大利、土耳其和印度的食盒。下一個(gè)食盒中將包含來自英國的食物。食盒被定位為城市型,主要包括一個(gè)地區(qū)的產(chǎn)品,不過也含有某個(gè)城市的一家商店中售賣的全國特產(chǎn)。 ????Try the World已經(jīng)通過天使投資募集了70萬美元,用于營銷投資以及拓展食物的范圍。投資者中包括法國企業(yè)家喬治斯-亨利?列維,前美國運(yùn)通(American Express)高管布萊恩?克萊因伯格和貝斯?萊西,哥倫比亞大學(xué)商學(xué)院(Columbia Business School)教授兼奢侈品分析師凱蒂?梅森盧茲,Genki Advisory咨詢公司的財(cái)務(wù)顧問凱文?奎恩,食品業(yè)高管多米尼克?法耶,以及哥倫比亞大學(xué)商學(xué)院的尤金郎創(chuàng)業(yè)基金(The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Fund)。 |
????Blame the Food Network. The television channel and its many tentacles has transformed the idea of being foodie, once the province of boring recipe shows, into full-on adventure entertainment. If not that, then blame the Whole Foods-fueled movement toward healthy and local eating. Whatever the cause, culinary tourism is on the rise. Ten years ago, it was barely discussed. Today, it’s an estimated $150 billion industry, according to the World Food Travel Association. ????Not everyone can afford to live like Anthony Bourdain, though. The startup Try the World, Kat Vorotova and David Foult, has emerged to bring exotic foods from far-flung destinations to doorsteps around the U.S. The New York-based company has been shipping $45 boxes of various packaged foods to subscribers since the beginning of this year. (The boxes can be purchased individually or via monthly subscription.) The goal with the company’s first box, a Valentine’s Day package from Paris, was to make $1. The boxes sold out within two days, and Try the World has shipped thousands of boxes since. ????The company tapped into a trend that grocery stores are only beginning to recognize: Americans are hungry, literally, for variety. “Customers are becoming more sophisticated,” Vorotova says. “If they want coffee, they want it to be from Brazil, or if they want pesto, they want it to be from Italy.” ????Thus a box that allows curious eaters to sample snacks and flavors of other cuisines without actually traveling there. Try the World’s boxes are curated by local “culture guides,” which tend to be chefs or people in the food industry looking for exposure in the U.S. The goal is to offer an authentic mix of local favorites, packaged with background information to put the food into context. The Paris box, for example, features a chestnut spread from a region protected by a government standard called appellation d’origine contr?lée, a package of hand-harvested salt from the Camargue region, and teas from Palais des Thés. ????“We really want it to feel like the experience of someone who is traveling and sending you the best goodies,” Vorotova says. The company works with foreign brands to get deep discounts on the items included in the boxes, since many foreign food brands are seeking to grow in the U.S. ????Try the World has shipped boxes from France, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, and India. The next box will be focused on foods from Great Britain. The boxes are marketed as city boxes, focused on one location, but feature items from around the country that would appear in a store in a particular city. ????Try the World has raised $700,000 in seed funding from angel investors to expand its offerings and invest in marketing. The investors include Georges-Henri Levy, a French entrepreneur; Brian Kleinberg and Beth Lacey, former American Express executives; Ketty Maisonrouge, a professor at Columbia Business School and luxury strategist; Kevin Quinn, a financial advisor at Genki Advisory; Dominique Faye, a food industry executive; and The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Fund at Columbia Business School. |
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