Tag: Kent
Start-Up Q&A: Jazie Fresh Meals
Jazie Fresh Meals
Jazie Fresh Meals is an on-demand weekly meal service that was just launched this year (2017) in Kent. Owner and chef Jasmin King joins us for an interview as one of FIN's newest Entrepreneurs.
Service Area: Pick Up or Free Delivery in Kent, $5-$10 from Tacoma to North Seattle
Availability: Orders Filled Every Sunday
Contact: (253) 259-4767
Website: jaziefreshmeals.weebly.com
Q: Tell us about your business?
I produce freshly made meals every week, which are rapidly cooled and may be reheated and consumed by my customers through the week. These meals are never frozen and are made with fresh ingredients, many of which are locally sourced. New menus are available every Wednesday and customers order by Friday for either pickup or delivery on Sunday. Customers can pick and choose how many meals and entrees they’d like to purchase and there is a discount for a full week’s worth of meals.
Q: How did you get the idea for your business? What inspired you to 

Swahili Food Seattle
Startup Q&A: Swahili Food Seattle

Q: Tell us about your business?
I cater East African food across King County communities. I cater small occasions, birthdays, graduations, small parties and individual meal orders. The African community loves my food because it meets their cultural appetite and is affordable. I’ve found there is a lot of interest in Kenyan cuisine outside the African community as well and I always enjoy meeting people who want to try African foods.Q: How did you get the idea for your business? What inspired you to start this business?
I saw that many Kenyans were getting very busy and did not have time to cook traditional meals. I worked in the food industry back in Kenya and have always loved to cook, I realized I could fill that need. I was number four in a family of twelve, I started cooking at a young age and everyone in my family loved my food. When I came to America, I saw that many Kenyans were busy and did not have time to cook traditional meals. The idea to start a catering business came very easily to me and I did not enjoy any other kind of job when I came to America. When I talked to family and people who knew me back in Kenya, they would always tell me I needed to start a Kenyan food business.Q: What makes you different from other types of African restaurants and caterers?
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Q: What do you like best about your work?
Flexibility, the joy of seeing people appreciate my food and services, I enjoy interacting with people and sharing the experience and food from my culture. It is always fun to meet people who have visited Kenya and for those who can’t make it all the way to Africa, I am pleased to bring my culture to them.Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
I am trying to grow my business so I can have my own commercial kitchen. I don’t want to run a restaurant but instead to provide catering services and supply local restaurants and grocery stores with fresh Kenyan food. In order to do this, I need capital to buy equipment and, eventually rent a large space to work from. I am challenged by financial resources to grow my business, hire staff, and expand my business ideas. For now, I am focusing on building my catering business and marketing to new customers.Q: What is something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business?
That I never went to school to learn cooking skills, they can’t understand how I taught myself to cook such tasty food.Q: What types of services or programs have been helpful?
I’m telling you, I learned something I could not have imagined with I joined FIN. I knew that I could own a business but not necessarily how to do it. For instance, I learned how to operate in a commercial kitchen and how to scale recipes for large orders. Before this I cooked by feel and taste but I needed to learn how to measure and create consistency between dishes. My next adventure will be to improve my marketing skills. [caption id="attachment_1663" align="alignleft" width="288"]
Connect with Benson to make an order or volunteer.
P.S. Benson would love help with creating marketing materials.
Soozveen Catering
Startup Q&A: Soozveen Catering


It’s official…FIN Entrepreneurs have launched!
FIN is excited to support the launch of four new local caterers cooking out of our shared commercial kitchen in Kent. The catering businesses each received a small start-up grant and reduced rent fees and are now fully licensed and insured caterers. FIN partner, Project Feast, is a core tenant, training culinary apprentices who operate the lunch cafe, Cafe Ubuntu.
FIN is working closely with partners Ventures, StartZone and Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship to ensure each entrepreneur is matched with a business coach, receives ongoing training and identifies market opportunities such as catering events, farmers markets, and festivals.
The seven entrepreneurs are operating under 4 catering businesses and will be cooking up cuisines from around the world. Swahili Seattle Food, Soozveen, Rekebot Coffee House and Mian Dian cater dishes and flavors from Kenya, Iraq, Ethiopia and China.
Many thanks for the support from Seattle Foundation, Communities of Opportunity, Port of Seattle, and City of Kent. Their generous support has helped FIN and partners to build out the commercial kitchen and ensure the entrepreneurs and apprentices have the support services needed. And a special thank you to Project Feast for spending the many hours managing the remodeling project!
If you have a catering or special event coming up, please give a FIN entrepreneur a call!
FIN has an official Pilot Kitchen!
After over 6 months of looking, FIN has officially secured a space for our Pilot Kitchen, located in the Kent Partnership Development Building. We faced many challenges trying to find an available kitchen space within SeaTac or Tukwila; reinforcing the timeliness of our work and dedication to creating durable resources in SeaTac and Tukwila. It is in the Pilot Kitchen that we will work to test our service coordination and model business incubation with the first cohort of FIN entrepreneurs. This work will help us become ready to enter the FIN Center, slated to open in 2018.