Some familiar names and some new faces are among the finalists in D.C.’s latest culinary incubator challenge.
Launch Pad, a food startup competition sponsored by nascent food incubator Mess Hall, will culminate Sept. 27 with a “Shark Tank” style live pitch program at Mess Hall’s Northeast D.C. space.
The event may also serve as a grand opening of sorts for Mess Hall. The shared kitchen space and “food community” in Brookland aims to open in the next couple of weeks, according to founder Al Goldberg.
Mess Hall received nearly 50 applications from food-related startups in the competition, which offers as a prize a membership at Mess Hall, a $500,000 investment opportunity as well as tax, branding and marketing consultations from industry veterans.
“We got really thoughtful pieces. A lot of people actually wrote business plans just for the competition,” Goldberg said. “We got a lot of feedback that they were glad they actually had the excuse to write a business plan because they had always been meaning to.”
Goldberg and a team of accountants chose the four finalists; the winner of the competition will be chosen by a panel of judges, which include Brandon Skall, founder of D.C. Brau, Johann Moonesinghe, the founder of equity crowdfunding company EquityEats; and a representative from EagleBank.
The four finalists are:
Mason Dixie: Buzzy biscuit business Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. is on a roll. They just achieved their Kickstarter goal, raising more than $28,000 to help finance a four-month breakfast and lunch pop-up at another incubator, EatsPlace, in the Parkview neighborhood of Northwest D.C. And now they’re a finalist for Mess Hall’s Launch Pad. Mason Dixie has been popping up at other restaurants and bars around D.C. for the past few weeks, serving Chef Jason Gehring’s decadent Southern biscuit sandwiches.
Singer’s Significant Meats : Bethesda got a taste of Doug Singer’s corned beef and pastrami during a pop-up this past spring, and now the former ThinkFoodGroup sous chef is hoping to grow. Singer also makes merguez, andouille and other sausages; he’s been selling meats mostly through an online shop he runs out of Union Kitchen, but his ultimate goal is to open a deli called Singer’s (Mostly) Jewish Delicatessen.
Lulu’s Ice Cream: Lulu’s is another startup capitalizing on the liquid nitrogen ice cream trend, making ice cream instantly in a stand mixer using the rapid-freezing power of liquid nitrogen. Luisa Santos has been selling her creations at the Mount Pleasant and Bethesda farmers markets, as well as booking private catering gigs.
Fruitcycle: This brand-new concept is just getting off the ground, according to Goldberg. The business will be a benefit corporation that uses produce that would otherwise be thrown away — bruised apples and other less desirable items, for example — to make healthy, locally sourced snacks. The goal is for the business to offer job training opportunities for formerly incarcerated, homeless or otherwise at-risk women, according to the business plan Bennett submitted.
