Maazah, the Arden Hills-based Afghan-American-owned chutney business, earned a spot in Cincinnati-based retail giant Kroger's first Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator cohort — and in Kroger stores.
It's the fifth accelerator program in which Maazah has landed a spot since Yasameen Sajady founded the business back in 2014, she said. The company's cilantro-driven chutney has steadily grown in popularity, turning mom's "magic green sauce" into a bottled condiment landing on more and more grocery store shelves — a journey the Business Journal previously covered.
Kroger's Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator, which features five small food product companies from across the nation, is intended to help the mega-grocer diversify its suppliers and bring innovative new offerings to its stores, the company said in an Aug. 12 press release. Over 1,000 businesses applied to be part of the cohort, and 15 participated in a pitch competition. The five companies will see their products on Kroger shelves come the first quarter of 2022, and will receive business coaching and partnership opportunities.
"This is a huge opportunity for Maazah to learn from industry experts who lead innovation for the largest grocery chain in the United States," Sajady told the Business Journal. "We are honored to be a part of the inaugural Kroger Go Fresh & Local Accelerator."
Prior to its partnership with Kroger, Maazah earned spots on four other accelerators: Lunar Start-ups, BASE (Ballard Academy for Student Entrepreneurs) Ballard Spahr, Good Food Accelerator and ImpactSKU. Sajady attributes Maazah's success in accelerator partnerships to the company's continued growth and the help of mentors, she said.
The company has also learned from failure.
"The truth is we have had many unsuccessful applications," Sajady said. "I have applied to accelerator programs multiple years in a row and it gives me a chance to review and refine how I think about my business."
For its part, Kroger says it's content with its cohort.
"We invented the Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator to discover the best, most innovative and freshest local and regional products — and our group of winners is just that," Dan De La Rosa, Kroger's group vice president of fresh merchandising, said in the news release.
