Temecula residents will have the chance to help grow a new business set to put down roots in the Hobby Lobby shopping mall in Temecula.
(Contributed image)
Artisan’s Palate will offer an innovative approach for supporting local farmers and culinary talents by giving shoppers the chance to actually learn the true stories behind the products they buy with a specially designed app.
But, perhaps even more interesting than the concept of choosing smart foods wisely, is the company’s organic origins.
Founder and owner Pia Maffei has raised the initial investment funds to purchase the tablets through a website called Kickstarter.com.
According to Maffei, the online funding source offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase their idea for a product — whether it’s a cookbook or DVD — and gain the support of investors and well-wishers who can donate funds to see the project to fruition.
“I have a background in technology, so I felt very comfortable with moving forward with this platform. It’s a good mix of my passions of technology and food,” Maffei said, noting that she had worked in the technology field for nearly 20 years before deciding to break off and start this new company.
The idea, she said, came to her when she was sidelined by a storm in New York City.
Pia Maffei (Courtesy photo)orm during a business trip in New York.
The Temecula resident said she’d chatted at length with a woman who’d lost nearly everything in Superstorm Sandy, but said with great pride that she could still make a good rum cake.
“That was a moment of clarity for me,” Maffei said “The movement around food is very exciting. To have the opportunity to expand and interact more with people and their product is very exciting.”
There will be packaged items for sale at Artisan’s Palate– all featuring products that are hand-crafted, local ingredients that have a story to tell.
Maffei has already raised most of the $4,000 she needs to purchase the interactive tablets that will tell those stories, but she said the effort to showcase her platform was about more than just the cash.
“The goal was to fund the tablets, but the goal was also to use (Kickstarter.com) as a marketing technique and to gain momentum,” she said.
Maffei said that the Kickstarter initiative actually gives residents and consumers the chance to install and grow the kinds of businesses they want to see in Temecula.
To learn more, or to make a donation to support Artisan’s Palate, visit kickstarter.com.
Check out Artisan’s Palate on Facebook.
Kerri S. Mabee is managing editor of Southwest Riverside News Network. She can be reached at kerri.mabee@swrnn.com.
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