“At least 40 percent of Portlanders live in situations that make it difficult to access fresh, affordable foods, and many more face barriers beyond physical access,” Portland State alumna Amelia Pape said. So how do people who live in these food deserts get access to healthy food options? The answer is My Street Grocery.
“At least 40 percent of Portlanders live in situations that make it difficult to access fresh, affordable foods, and many more face barriers beyond physical access,” Portland State alumna Amelia Pape said. So how do people who live in these food deserts get access to healthy food options? The answer is My Street Grocery.
The company is the brainchild of Pape, Colin Gallison and Eric Johnson, all alumni of PSU’s Master of Business Administration program. “My Street Grocery is a community mobile grocer with a mission to increase fresh food access to people who face barriers to healthy eating,” Pape said. The company launched full time on May 1.
My Street Grocery offers many food staples, such as rice and beans as well as fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. The company strives to be affordable and cheaper than many grocers and fast food restaurants and offers easy-to-prepare meal kits that can serve 4–6 people starting at the price of $2 per serving. Several partners work with the company to provide the food, such as Portland’s Organically Grown Company and the Sheridan Fruit Company.
The idea began in the fall of 2009 while Pape, Gallison and Johnson attended a class on Pioneering Innovation under PSU Professor Charla Mathwick. In the first half of 2011, the concept expanded and came under the guidance of the Social Innovation Incubator, a program offered through the university’s School of Business Administration that helps launch new business ventures.
At the end of the SII program, the team participated in a Pitch Fest, where an audience of community leaders, such as business leaders and investors, listened to ideas from participants in the program. The team launched a pilot program in the latter half of 2011, under the name A Fork in the Road.
“My Street Grocery addresses a social problem and a market failure with a workable solution that is a win-win for the consumer, the community and long term for investors,” said SBA Instructor of Management Brenda Eichelberger, who helped coach the team through the SII.
My Street Grocery focuses on visiting areas that have limited access to healthy foods. People purchase groceries directly from the truck, but the company does not make home deliveries. Usually the truck will visit a location once a week and stay for an hour and a half, though the hours are flexible to meet the needs of the community. My Street Grocery does take requests to visit a particular neighborhood or area. All are welcome to come and purchase food from the truck, even if they are not members of that particular neighborhood or community.
Pape said that so far their business has received a warm welcome from the community. More customers visit each week, and Pape said that they expect this to continue as the word gets out and visiting the mobile grocer becomes a normal feature of people’s lives.
According to Pape, customers have expressed their satisfaction that they don’t have to travel too far to visit a grocer now that the truck visits their neighborhoods. “We bring the store to them, and they love it,” she said. “We hope to be approved to accept EBT very soon, which will also positively impact our business.”
For now, Pape said that My Street Grocery is operating with more demand than capacity, and she hopes to expand throughout Portland so that all residents have a chance to take advantage of the service. In the future, Pape hopes to employ people from the areas that utilize the grocer so that they can be trained and potentially open their own mobile markets.
Cindy Cooper, co-founder and director of the Social Innovation Incubator, described the mobile market as an elegant and creative answer to a need in the community. “They are a fantastic example of how a small group of determined students can maximize their education to create a business that changes lives,” she said. “I think this is inspiring to other students who long to apply what they are learning to create careers with meaning.”
Pape, Gallison and Johnson are actively involved at PSU. They continued to attend workshops and social events, and the SII even linked them with Waggener Edstrom, who provided My Street Grocery with free public relations services.
Last spring, My Street Grocery placed second in the SBA’s Business Plan competition. They presented at the SBA Faculty Retreat last summer and have been guest speakers in the Management 410 Entrepreneurship course.
“I believe that all of the individual founders and the company will continue to be active in the PSU community,” said Tichelle Sorensen, attorney and adjunct instructor at the School of Business Administration. “They have a strong base of supporters here, and knowing them I believe that they will continue to be involved in the future by encouraging and supporting other entrepreneurs in the PSU community and sharing their knowledge and experiences.”
Pape moved to Portland in 2007, worked for a local start-up business, and in graduate school researched food access issues. She received her bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C. She currently serves on the Portland/Multnomah Food Policy Council as well as the Food Justice Work Group.
Gallison received his bachelor’s in Economics from Connecticut College. After graduation, he worked at a major mutual fund as a financial analyst for six years before he went back to college to study entrepreneurship.
Johnson worked in the retail food industry for more than 10 years, in operations, buying and logistics positions. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and completed Cornell University’s Food Executive Management program in 2004.
For further information or to see how to get My Street Grocery to visit a location, go online at mystreetgrocery.com.
